Thread

1. cmiles8 · 1789596948 · focus · HN ↗

   This interview with an AWS leader isn’t aging well, from CBS Sunday morning:

   Pogue asked, "I don't mean to give anyone ideas, but let's say I figured out that one of these unmarked buildings was an AWS data center, and I blew it up. Are you saying that it's so backed up and redundant that you probably wouldn't notice?" Wood replied, "Yeah, you wouldn't notice. I mean, we might be a bit upset, but you wouldn't notice!"

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   1. krick · 1789598998 · focus · HN ↗

      That is actually surprising to me. Claims like that are pretty common, they make sense and they should be true, so even though I don&#x27;t really know AWS (&#x2F;Backblaze&#x2F;Azure&#x2F;whatever) redundancy planning in enough detail, I used to trust them. It&#x27;s really worrying when they outright say it will be ok, and then a week later it turns out to be not ok.

      1. general_reveal · 1789633559 · focus · HN ↗

         Well, listen, you do know that even when the largest most ambitious and most sophisticated things are shipped, each owner of each specific part (could be many many owners) basically , to the best of their ability, prayed that nothing particularly bad happens when it’s shipped off. Truly, that’s the best a mortal human can do, pray their part doesn’t break.

         So then that big thing comes to you. It’s all kind of … held together by a prayer …

         Trust me I’ve worked at these big places. You wouldn’t believe how much fucking luck and grace from God is allowing you to do anything with your digital life. It’s a mindfuck of a tangled mess out there, eternities worth of written code that only God ensures works together at this point, only to get more hidden with AI.

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