Computer Problems Take Out DVD Renter Netflix
Date : 25 Mar 2008 Category : Technology
NewsFactor NetworkUnexpected Maintenance
Netflix's systems go down for maintenance once a week in the middle of the night, but the company said the maintenance mode unexpectedly started Monday. The company has not revealed the reason.
As a result, DVDs that were to be mailed on Monday were to go out Tuesday, as the outage also affected some distribution centers. Netflix did not specify what percentage of expected shipments to its 7.5 million customers were on time or delayed. However, the company said no stored information, such as subscribers' queue lists, was lost.
The Web site also suffered an 18-hour downtime last July, following heavy traffic resulting from lowering prices, but the Monday's glitch was more extensive than any in the company's nine-year history.
In July's glitch, the company's stock fell seven percent, but with its stock price rising, Netflix ended Monday with its stock up five percent.
'Large Base of Loyal Customers'
One reason the outage probably won't have a lasting effect, said JupiterResearch analyst Bobby Tulsiani, is because of the Netflix brand's strength.
"Even the best Web sites, like eBay or YouTube, have technical problems sometimes," he noted. He added that, as with other strong brands, Netflix "has built up a large base of loyal customers," and its customers will understand that things like this can happen -- as long as it's not too often.
Netflix published an emergency notice on its site during the shutdown, along with a Customer Service phone number, and it noted that there were still...