Sometimes while accessing resources on the AWS server, we notice our website fails to load, hangs, or returns an error as "website/URL not found." It leads us to wonder what might be the issue. It could happen because the AWS server is down.
So, how to tackle such a scenario? The ideal plan of action is to check your AWS server status, understand why it is down, and perform troubleshooting. If that fails, restore your data from a different backup tool or contact AWS Health Dashboard.
In this post, we discuss how to check AWS server status, identify common reasons AWS servers go down, and explain how to troubleshoot AWS server outages and the best practices to prevent the issue.
How To Check The Status Of AWS Servers?
One of the possible reasons for not being able to access the AWS account or its resources is a failed server. We can conduct either of the two status checks mentioned below to obtain relevant information about the AWS system state.
1. System Status Check
This type of status check supervises the AWS systems on which your instance executes. It finds issues linked to the instance that needs AWS's involvement for its repair.
2. Instance Status check
This status check evaluates your instance's current network and software configuration. It sends an address resolution protocol request to the network interface.
3. View The Status Check Results
Once we run the system checks, we can view and work with the results using any of the below methods.
1. Use The AWS Command Line Interface
2. Using the Amazon EC2 console.
Additionally, you can use tools that monitor the health of single or multiple cloud-based services, including AWS, based on
Our best picks in AWS Monitoring tools include:
What To Do If AWS Servers Are Down?
The damage caused by a failure in the AWS server can be severe and widespread. It can lead to the partial or complete collapse of websites, devices, and apps that rely on its cloud computing hosting services and APIs.
An AWS server crash will prevent users from accessing its various services, including – networking, storage, and computing. Large organizations suffer the most as they can't access their data stored on the server and deploy and run their apps globally.
If the status check reveals some problem with the AWS Server, then instead of panicking, follow the below actionable to resolve the issue at minimal damage.
It is advantageous if we cannot reach an AWS service or console like the Amazon EC2 console. The Service Health Dashboard provides information on existing service disruptions and open events.
Frequent Reasons Why AWS Servers Go Down
Failure happens, but if you diagnose it soon, isolate it as much as possible, and recover from it seamlessly, you will return to your feet in much less time.
So, after we know that our AWS server has issues, we first have to identify the root cause of the server failure. It is necessary as it helps us take the right actions to resolve the issue soon.
Here is a complete list of reasons that may cause the AWS server to go down:
How To Troubleshoot AWS Server Outages And Incidents?
Here are the common types of AWS Server Outages and Incidents and possible solutions.
1. The instance drops network connectivity
If you restart an instance and it drops network connectivity, it could be because the instance is set to a different time zone. Try to set it to a proper time zone and restart it.
After doing this, the instance may regain network connectivity after many hours. The total time required in this process is based on the difference between Co-ordinate Universal Time (UTC) and the other time zone.
If you always want to use a time zone other than UTC, then you need to specify the RealTimeIsUniversal registry key. This way, the instance will always use your chosen timezone instead of UTC when you restart it.
2. Scheduled tasks don't run when expected
The same "incorrect time" issue can prevent scheduled tasks from running as expected. Carry out the above steps, and verify that the registry key is set to:
1:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation\RealTimeIsUniversal
3. You can't connect to the Amazon EC2 Windows instance
You can use EC2Rescue to troubleshoot EC2 Windows. The tool runs on your Amazon EC2 Windows Server instances and can help troubleshoot OS-level issues and gather configuration files and advanced logs for detailed analysis.
Besides it, the tool is also helpful in addressing some other problems, such as:
- Instance connectivity failure due to Remote Desktop Protocol, network interface configuration, or firewall.
- OS boot issues
- Issues that need advanced log analysis and troubleshooting.
You can run EC2Rescue automatically or manually using the AWS Systems Manager AWSSupport-ExecuteEC2Rescue Automation document.
Use one of the below methods to run EC2Rescue manually:
- Use EC2Rescue for Windows Server GUI.
- Use the EC2Rescue for Windows Server command line interface.
- Use the AWSSupport-RunEC2RescueForWindowsTool Systems Manager Run Command.
4. Can't connect to an Amazon EC2 instance in Amazon VPC from the internet.
In such a scenario, the connection hangs at the time of connecting, and the error window pops up stating, "Network error: Connection timed out."
To fix this issue, you need to -
- Verify that your security settings allow appropriate access
- Verify that your network ACLs allow access to your instance
- Verify that your VPC route table allows traffic to and from the internet
- Check for conflicts with your local firewalls and routing tables
5. Unable to connect Amazon EC2 instance to the internet via an internet gateway
If your Amazon EC2 has an internet gateway or a public IP address but can't access the internet, here are a few things you can do to fix the issue.
- Confirm that the EC2 instance fulfills all requirements.
- Confirm that the instance has a public IP address.
- Confirm that a firewall doesn't block access.
6. You find trouble launching an instance
It could be due to an invalid device name. To fix this, make sure –
- The device name is not used in the AMI that you have chosen
- No root volume has a name similar to the device name
- Each book specified in the request has a different device name.
- The device name is in the correct format.
Another reason could be that you have exceeded the instance limit. You can solve it by requesting an increase in the instance limit per region.
Finally, the instance launching issue can also happen due to inadequate instance capacity. To resolve the case, you can try the below steps:
- Wait for some time, and then resubmit your request. It can cause its capacity to shift frequently.
- Submit a new request with a lesser number of instances.
- Submit a new request without mentioning an Availability Zone.
- Submit a new request with a different instance type.
Best Practices For Preventing AWS Servers Outages And Downtime
Whether an individual or a company, we can protect ourselves by preventing our websites and servers from going down. Here are some of the best practices which, when implemented, can help us avert AWS system failure:
1. Use Clustering
Clustering can help prevent site-wide outages for database servers. It is a highly dynamic system and needs a robust and tested solution.
The clustering stack comprises components that work together seamlessly to offer data integrity, performance, management, and monitoring in a lightweight, scalable, affordable, and fault-tolerant system.
2. Host database servers on multiple cloud data centers
Business-critical apps that serve substantial users, with instant response times and no downtime, must host database servers in more than one cloud data center. They should analyze which physical cloud data centers run their resources and services and treat them as a single point of failure in their website's architecture.
3. Track the uptime and downtime of your website
We can use software such as updown.io, ManageWP, or Uptime to check if or when our website goes down. It helps us prepare a contingency plan before a possible crash of our website.
4. Build a specialized team to fix any hardware or software issues
AWS downtime can cause serious trouble for companies. It is essential to be backed by a group of professionals to assess your website's and server's performance to identify and fix issues.
It boosts the quality control process and can also help update servers periodically to prevent downtime.
5.Back up your data at a separate cloud-based backup tool
A robust data backup system is critical for the seamless operation of a business. Instead of depending on one backup device, sign up for another reliable cloud-based back tool and store your data on it.
This way, even if your websites and servers go down severely, you can easily migrate your site onto another host and server without risking data loss.
Conclusion
Server outages and network glitches are a reality of life. However, we can do our bit to lessen the pain. Using the tools, and steps mentioned above, we can quickly figure out "Are AWS Servers down" and take curative measures to stay on top of any web-based or local network-based outage.
