IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Amazon Web Services Issue Leaves Part of the Internet in Disarray

There's no reason to throw your computer out the window.
Parts of Amazon Web Services experienced an outage on Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
Parts of Amazon Web Services experienced an outage on Tuesday, February 28, 2017.Leon Neal / Getty Images

There's no reason to throw your computer out the window.

If you've noticed some websites have been loading slowly or not at all, you'll be relieved to know it's not you or your machine.

The culprit is an Amazon Web Services issue, which has caused "increased error rates" for east coast based websites Tuesday afternoon.

Parts of Amazon Web Services experienced an outage on Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
Parts of Amazon Web Services experienced an outage on Tuesday, February 28, 2017.Leon Neal / Getty Images

Related: Dyn Says Cyberattack ‘Resolved’ After Services Shut Down

It's unclear what caused the issue. Amazon said in an update that they are continuing "to experience high error rates" in the affected area. The company said they "believe we understand root cause, and are working on implementing what we believe will remediate the issue."

Amazon Web Services is Amazon's cloud storage company, which is used by many large companies, including Netflix and Expedia, and also relied on by small businesses to keep their web operations running smoothly.

The outage showed just how much many popular websites rely on Amazon Web Services.

"It’s kinda terrifying how much of the internet is down because of the AWS outage right now," one person wrote.

While the outage may have caused some headaches, other people chose to see humor in the situation, even offering a suggestion to Amazon.