Postmortem: Web Stack Downtime january 22, 2024
Published: 2024-01-21 23:18:26

**Issue Summary:**

**Duration:**
Start Time: january 22, 2024, 09:30 AM (UTC)
End Time: january 22, 2024, 11:45 AM (UTC)

**Impact:** 
Added Disadvantages of User Authentication Service: Disadvantages of Using User Authentication Service: , Impact 30% user.
 Root cause: Misconfigured load balancing settings result in increased traffic on the authentication server.
 Timeline: 14: 30: This issue was discovered due to an increased error rate in the authentication service.
 14: 35: If the error rate is high, an audit alert will be triggered.
 14: 40: Initial investigation has begun and indicates there may be a problem with the database connection.
 15: 00: Database connection checked.
 The focus has shifted to application servers.
 15: 30: Incorrect assumption that recent code deployments may cause problems.
 Begin recovery.
 16: 00: Restore completed.
 No improvement was seen.
 Reported to infrastructure team.
 16: 30: Further investigation revealed that the load balancing settings were configured incorrectly, resulting in uneven distribution of traffic.
 17: 00: The load balancing configuration has been fixed and traffic is starting to normalize.
 18: 45: Full service restoration confirmed.
 Root cause and solution: Root cause: Misconfigured load balancing settings cause traffic to be unevenly distributed and the authentication server to be overloaded.
 
**Resolution: **
Fixed the load balancing configuration to evenly distribute traffic between application servers to eliminate bottlenecks.
 Corrections and Precautions: 
**Improvements/Fixes: **
Automatic Load Balancing Configuration Validation: 
 Run automated tests to validate the load balancing configuration and avoid configuration errors.
** Advanced Monitoring:** 
Improve the  monitoring system to detect and alert on real-time load balancing anomalies.
** Incident Response Training: **
Provide additional training to your team on effective incident response and troubleshooting strategies.
 **Tasks to resolve the issue: **
Automatic load balancer checks: Implement a script that periodically checks the load balancer configuration and alerts you to deviations from best practices.
 **Monitoring improvements:** 
Add custom monitoring metrics specific to load balancer health and distribution.
** Documentation Update:** 
Updates the incident response playbook with steps to investigate and resolve issues related to load balancing.
** Team Training:**
 Conducted a load balancing management and troubleshooting workshop for the  infrastructure team.

** Conclusion: **
 The  january 22, 2024 outage was caused by misconfigured load balancing settings that increased traffic to the authentication server, making it unavailable.
 Work temporarily failed during investigation due to an initially assumed database problem.
 If identified, corrective actions include adjusting load balancing settings to evenly distribute traffic to restore service.
 Automated load balancing configuration testing, improved monitoring, and additional incident response training were identified as key improvements to prevent future incidents.
 To address these issues and harden the system against similar problems in the future, a number of specific tasks are outlined, including scripting automation controls and conducting workshops.