Comments

4 responses to “Microsoft server crash nearly causes 800-plane pile-up”

1. 2004/10/12

   Clive

   “The servers are timed to shut down after 49.7 days of use in order to prevent a data overload”? Yeah, right.

   I’ve heard that figure before – it looks as though the system has a 2^32-millisecond bug, just like Windows 95 did.

   Sheesh!

   Reply
2. 2004/10/12

   Mark Musante

   re: Microsoft server crash nearly causes 800-plane pile-up

   {agree with Clive} – that was the first thing that came to mind when I read it. Another example of “you get what you pay for” I suppose. The unix systems would have lasted until the 2030s…

   Reply
3. 2004/10/12

   Watching Them, Watching Us

   re: Microsoft server crash nearly causes 800-plane pile-up

   If you believe

   “The shutdown is intended to keep the system from becoming overloaded with data and potentially giving controllers wrong information about flights, according to a software analyst cited by the LA Times.”

   then it would have made no difference what operating system the application was running on, it would still have shut down as it was “designed” to do so.

   Reply
4. 2004/10/14

   Stephen Usher

   re: Microsoft server crash nearly causes 800-plane pile-up

   Very true.. so why did they allow such poorly written software to manage the radio system in the first place?

   Also, if the application needed to be restarted, why wasn’t there an automated system to do it rather than to rely upon an unreliable person?

   Basically, the software vendor, the procurement staff and the FAA all screwed up. There is just no excuse.

   Reply