What's Behind the Netflix DVD Shipping Problem?
While Netflix has only said that it's a technical glitch on the record, Valleywag reports that it could be a database upgrade problem, Netflix crash caused by botched Oracle upgrade.
How did Netflix end up with massive delivery delays? "Because of massive database corruption in their Oracle cluster caused by a botched upgrade," according to a tipster. But don't blame Oracle (or Microsoft), necessarily. The tipster believes Netflix's own database administrators who bungled the upgrade. Why not just roll back the system?I believe it's more complicated than that — probably transactions that happened *after* the upgrade that they now need to reconcile manually.
It's just a rumor (and it's run on the notorious rumor site Valleywag) but it could be the reason Netflix is having so much trouble.
Do you know how long it takes to update the instant queue via Roku? Is there a limit to how many you can have? It doesn't seem to be updating for me. Any insight would be great.
Thank you.
Posted by: J. Seguin | August 14, 2008 at 10:59 PM
You should probably let tech support at Netflix help you if it's not updating for you. It should take about 1-5 minutes, we at least that's how long it takes for me. And the instant queue can hold as many as 500 titles.
Posted by: | August 15, 2008 at 12:05 AM
well*
Posted by: | August 15, 2008 at 12:06 AM
Not trying to be a troll at all, but any thought that maybe it was the keeping of profiles that possibly led to the database corruption? One of their reasons for getting rid of them was the fact that upgrading things was difficult.
Posted by: Akbar | August 15, 2008 at 02:03 AM
I was an IT systems guy for many years and I don't need a tip to tell me that there must have been a botched database upgrade and conversion. It happens, but such a prolonged outage is really bush league stuff. I'm very disappointed in them. They need to get their act together.
Posted by: Phil P | August 15, 2008 at 07:48 AM
I would not let Oracle off so easily. They do not have to make their upgrades so complicated.
I once ruled out Oracle from a project because one of my guys could not figure out how to install Oracle but easily installed MS SQL Server. The guy was certainly not very good, but SQL Server was the clear winner of that test.
Posted by: Rob | August 15, 2008 at 11:06 AM
Break out the checkbook, Oracle. You never upgrade without having a fail-safe backup system when, not if, when it fails.
Posted by: Uosdwis | August 15, 2008 at 02:11 PM
Looks like some database admins will be looking for some new jobs.
Posted by: Jack | August 16, 2008 at 03:09 PM
It's not Oracle that caused the problem!!!
Netflix said they were unable to delivery email alerts on DVD shipments to their customers. Without sending emails to their clients the entire system crashes because now Netflix has no way of knowing what DVD's to ship their customers.
It all starts with the ability to send/deliver email confirmations. I did some research and found that Netflix uses StrongMail Systems email technology internally to handle this aspect of their business. www.strongmail.com
They are probably gonna need to update or replace their email systems to prevent this from happening again.
Posted by: Jeff | August 17, 2008 at 06:42 PM
As the CEO of StrongMail Systems, I'd like to set the record straight. While a desperate competitor seems to be extremely motivated to hitch the Netflix DVD delivery problem to its use of StrongMail - that's hardly the case. The problem has been widely reported as a fulfillment system problem, not an email problem. If anyone is looking at StrongMail solutions, feel free to email me, and we'd be happy to put you in touch with our very happy email customers, including Netflix.
Posted by: Sam Cece | August 25, 2008 at 02:51 PM
Turns out it was a computer hardware problem. The AP just ran a story on it. You can click on my name or use this link: http://www.siliconvalley.com/latestheadlines/ci_10299435?nclick_check=1&forced=true
Posted by: Jason | August 26, 2008 at 12:50 PM