https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2020 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2020 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Digital Service Providers
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • CHANNEL PARTNERS ONLINE
 Channel Futures

Cloud


Intermedia Back Online After Partial Hosted Exchange Outage

  • Written by The VAR Guy 1
  • April 18, 2010

Intermedia, one of the largest and best known providers of Hosted Exchange, suffered a partial service outage on April 15. Business seemed to be getting back to normal by April 16. Here’s a look at what happened, and how Intermedia got its customers and partners back online. Plus, a look at the way Intermedia continued to communicate with the media during the outage, instead of going radio silent.

First, a little background and some qualifiers. The VAR Guy’s parent, Nine Lives Media Inc., depends on a range of hosted and cloud services. Our resident blogger knows how painful it can be when online systems go dark. But even worse, he despises when cloud providers go mum during a service outage.

To Intermedia‘s credit, the company sent The VAR Guy updates on April 16, explaining the service disruption and corrective actions the company took. Here’s a look at what happened, from the eyes of Bob Leibholz, VP of sales and business development at Intermedia. Leibholz provided most of the information the afternoon of April 16, while The VAR Guy was flying from San Francisco to New York. Hence, our resident blogger is a bit delayed with this report.

What Happened: Part 1

At 12:27 p.m. eastern on April 16, Leibholz offered the following overview:

Yesterday morning [April 15, 2010], a SAN hardware failure (one of two main processors rebooted itself in a panic mode!) in Domain 20 impacted 12% of Intermedia’s mailboxes (30,000 of about 250,000). The SAN failure caused a cascade of issues, including an attempt by the system to automatically reboot about 50 servers simultaneously.  While the hardware issue was diagnosed and a workaround activated midday, impacted mailboxes experienced serious residual mail queue and connectivity delays.  All queues were cleared and mail appeared to be functioning normally by 1 a.m. PT.

This morning [April 16, 2010] at approximately 4.am. pt mail delays reappeared. At this time the problem with the SMTP hubs is unknown, but is most likely fall out from yesterday’s issue. We paused external email delivery to Domain 20 while resolving the problem.

The SAN hardware failure also generated mail filtering issues on Domain 21, creating mail queue delays in 20,000 mailboxes yesterday afternoon.  These delays were resolved by early evening, pacific time and everything continues to function normally.

As you know, we use new, premium hardware to minimize downtime. In the event downtime occurs, we are committed to transparency.  Our service status web page — publicly available — was updated as the above issues unfolded. We’ve also been in touch personally and repeatedly with affected partners to the extent possible.  Per our standard practice, we will also follow-up with a detailed Reason for Outage report that includes specific corrective actions. This report will be issued to all impacted customers.

What Happened, Part II

At 12:56 p.m. on April 16, Leibholz was back with another update:

Right now, all hubs are processing mail and we have started accepting external mail.  Delays exist.  Delays for sending internally or externally (both only pass through the hubs) is about 15 minutes.  External to internal mail delivery will be significantly delayed—possibly  a few hours as we catch up and clear out the queue.  I have not sent a global update yet, because we just started receiving external mail and I want to make certain the system holds.

Looking Ahead and Lessons Learned

Fast forward to the present (Sunday, April 18, 2010). The VAR Guy is flying to Miami for another conference. But the flight has WiFi, and Leibholz offered the following update over email:

Service was back up for all Domain 20 customers around 1:00 Friday [April 16].  There were mail queues clearing for the 20th domain on Friday afternoon, so there was a delay in inbound mail until that stuff processed.  But my understanding is that all queues were cleared later that afternoon.  All other domains were fine on Friday.

No doubt, the cloud still isn’t perfect. Everyone from corporate giants (Microsoft, RackSpace, Amazon) to upstarts (ConnectWise, Intermedia) has suffered some form of outage in recent months.

But the best companies remain responsive in their corporate communications. Instead of going silent or speculating about the problem, Intermedia promised The VAR Guy a factual update as soon as some information was available. Leibholz delivered those updates.

April 15 and 16 certainly weren’t fun days for Intermedia and a portion of the company’s partner base. But Intermedia’s track record as a white label service to solutions providers has been strong, The VAR Guy believes.

All that said, The VAR Guy hates even the briefest service outage as much as the next guy…

Sign up for The VAR Guy’s Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center; and via RSS; Facebook; Identi.ca; Twitter and VARtweet.

Tags: Cloud Service Providers Digital Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Cloud Mobility

Related


  • Businessman stepping up ladder
    Andy Jassy of AWS Is Movin' On Up: Partners React
    Find out what some of your peers and suppliers have to say about Jassy becoming Amazon CEO.
  • Growth depiction
    UK Channel Expects Big Growth in 2021, Cybersecurity a Big Driver
    Many partners view COVID-19 delays as one of the least important challenges they face.
  • SASE-Security
    SASE: The Key to Mitigating Business Transformation Risk
    MSPs can leverage SASE to help clients mitigate new cybersecurity risks as they embrace cloud technology.
  • Select a Hire
    AvePoint Taps Ingram Micro, Palo Alto Networks Vet to Lead Channel
    He held channel exec roles at Ingram and Palo Alto Networks

9 comments

  1. Avatar Tim Swilling April 30, 2010 @ 4:10 pm
    Reply

    Since this MAJOR 2 day outage, mail delivery to Yahoo, MSN, Hotmail, Google can take 3-6 hours. It has been well over 10 Days and mail delivery service is still impaired. Their tech support apparently cannot fix it. We have business partners who have their email addresses from one of the above mentioned and we cannot get info to them in a timely fashion because of this. The company I work for is suffering because I moved our email to what I thought would be the best provider. MY ADVICE: Stay away from Intermedia if you value your job.

  2. Avatar The VAR Guy April 30, 2010 @ 8:27 pm
    Reply

    Hi Tim,

    The VAR Guy is catching a flight but will check in with Intermedia for an update.
    -TVG

  3. Avatar Anonymous April 12, 2013 @ 2:17 pm
    Reply

    we are experiencing an
    we are experiencing an intermedia outage since 9:20 this morning (4/12/13) is anyone else?

    • Avatar Anonymous May 1, 2013 @ 6:36 pm
      Reply

      We are seeing an intermittent
      We are seeing an intermittent outage today (May1, 2013) that has lasted for about 2.5 hours now. Anyone else?

  4. Avatar Kevin B September 3, 2013 @ 2:06 pm
    Reply

    We are experiencing an issue
    We are experiencing an issue with Intermedia email services being down (we are unable to connect to server) on 9/3/2013. Is anyone else experiencing issues with Intermedia this morning?
    Thanks,
    ~kevin

  5. Avatar Anonymous September 3, 2013 @ 2:18 pm
    Reply

    We are seeing a complete
    We are seeing a complete outage right now (August 3, 2013). We’re unable to get thru to any phone line associated with Intermedia (fast busy signals). Hoping to get this resolved quickly, we NEED our Email. Anyone else having this problem today?

  6. Avatar Anonymous September 3, 2013 @ 2:39 pm
    Reply

    We are seeing Intermedia
    We are seeing Intermedia services down on 9/3/2013. Is anyone else experiencing issues?

  7. Avatar Robert Thomas September 3, 2013 @ 3:28 pm
    Reply

    Intermedia seems to have an
    Intermedia seems to have an outage since 3 AM on 09-03-2013. Unlike your article, they don’t seem to have any public information available on the outage.

    • Joe Panettieri Joe Panettieri September 3, 2013 @ 10:53 pm
      Reply

      Hi Robert, Readers: The VAR
      Hi Robert, Readers: The VAR Guy’s sister site, Talkin’ Cloud, checked in with Intermedia for an update. You’ll find background on the outage and some updates here.

      -jp

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • The Smart Money’s on a Staged Approach to Security Services Provision
  • Protegrity Partners Get New Program with Added Training, Certification
  • Getting Clients Ready for an 88% Increase in Cloud Adoption
  • Calligo Acquires Decisive Data, Beefs Up Data Insights Services

Galleries

View all

Threat Protection Vendors: Why MSSPs Have to Ramp Up Efforts Right Now

February 23, 2021

Industry Perspectives

View all

Three Ways MSPs Can Improve Supply Chain Security

February 24, 2021

SASE: The Key to Mitigating Business Transformation Risk

February 22, 2021

Public Sector IT Funding Outlook for 2021–and What It Means for Our Reseller Partners

February 18, 2021

Webinars

View all

XDR and Why it Matters to MSPs

March 24, 2021

Top Security Trends Impacting Technology Security Providers In 2021

March 25, 2021

In Case of Emergency: The Importance of Proactive Critical Event Management

February 23, 2021
  • 1

White Papers

View all

Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum

February 19, 2021

Product Brief: Kaseya VSA Integrated Workflows with BMS and IT Glue

January 26, 2021

Why Subscription Business Model

January 15, 2021

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Virtual

March 2, 2021 - March 4, 2021

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

November 1, 2021 - November 4, 2021

Videos and Fastchats

View all

FASTCHAT: How SOAR Eliminates Security Challenges and Elevates Service Provider Revenues

January 6, 2021

Happy Holidays from Channel Partners & Channel Futures!

December 21, 2020

FASTCHAT: How Old, Unpatched Technologies Are Creating New Security Threats for MSPs and Their Customers

December 3, 2020

Twitter

ChannelFutures

.@BlackBerry report shows rise in hacker-for-hire groups targeting #MSSPs. dlvr.it/RtQjD9 https://t.co/VYr5cEXCCm

February 25, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@PTsecurity_UK discovers #vulnerabilities in @VMware vCenter server. dlvr.it/RtQjD5 https://t.co/WQbn5SJdFL

February 25, 2021
ChannelFutures

Take #supplychainsecurity to the next level. @Sophos #MSP #MSSP #ransomware #cybersecurity #managedservice… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

February 25, 2021
ChannelFutures

[email protected]_inc rolls out first partner program. #securityanalytics dlvr.it/RtQhlW https://t.co/c1Xhxaf3qr

February 25, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@AteraCloud receives $25 million investment to help more #MSPs, IT pros. dlvr.it/RtPbBG https://t.co/UxHqhrUKgx

February 24, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@Infoblox rolls out new #Cloud Specialization program to increase partners' #SaaS sales. dlvr.it/RtPb7f https://t.co/CmZTwYiv1u

February 24, 2021
ChannelFutures

RT @Channel_Expo: ⏱️ Time is ticking to save on your pass to #CPVirtual next week...View all pass options and secure your virtual seat by F…

February 24, 2021
ChannelFutures

The new @Commvault #EMEA channel exec will focus attention on alliances, cloud and simplifying and expanding partne… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

February 24, 2021

MSSP Insider

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Channel Partners Online

Want more? Find more channel news and analysis on our sister site, Channel Partners.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Online
  • Channel Partners Events
  • MSP 501
  • MSSP Insider
  • IoT World Today
  • Webhostingtalk

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X