On Tuesday this week, a multiple system outage on Amazon's cloud servers resulted in widespread outages to Ring doorbells, leaving users in the dark and worried about the security of their residences until the problem was resolved.
For some, the Ring failures – which affected Ring.com, Ring Protect (Video Recording), Live Calls (Doorbell Dings & Motions), Video On Demand, and Partner Integration – only lasted a few hours, but for others it persisted long into the night.
While the issues have now been fixed, many have been left asking questions about what happened and whether it might happen again – and whether their Ring cameras can still be trusted.
I asked Lorex Technology, one of North America's leading home security system specialists for over 30 years, to explain what happened.
In short, the issue boils down to failings in Amazon's cloud services to which Ring systems are connected. With feeds and recording based in the cloud, rather than being captured locally, once there's an internet outage then the devices cease to function.
Crucially, Lorex offers cameras with local recording capabilities that continue to save footage to a local microSD card or hard drive in such a situation. In addition, its Fusion systems enable wired doorbells to be connected to an NVR (network video recorder) for continuous 24/7 recording – which will record to the hard drive even during an outage.
While Ring is a reputable and generally reliable system, it's definitely worth considering a system with local storage options to ensure that you're protected should there be a problem connecting to the cloud.
Here's a breakdown from Lorex's spokesperson about what occurred during the Ring failure on Tuesday.
What actually happened?
Cloud-dependent cameras
Many modern security cameras rely on cloud services for storage, remote access, and other features. If these cameras use Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud infrastructure, an outage could disrupt their ability to store footage, send alerts, or provide live streaming. However, if the cameras have local storage (like an SD card or hard drive recorder), they may continue recording locally even if cloud services are down.
Remote access and notifications
For cameras integrated with smart home systems or accessed via mobile apps, an AWS outage could affect remote viewing, notifications and control features. Users might be unable to access live feeds or receive alerts about motion detection.
Dependent services
Some security camera systems rely on additional services hosted on AWS, such as AI-based analytics for identifying specific types of events or integrating with other smart devices. An outage might disrupt these advanced features, potentially reducing the effectiveness of the security system.
Recovery and redundancy
The impact of an outage also depends on the availability of redundant systems and backup plans. Some security systems may have failover mechanisms or alternative data centers that can take over in case of an outage, minimizing disruption.
Why did it happen?
As referenced above, many systems that are exclusively reliant on cloud storage will face interruptions within their service.
Systems that have local storage backup will still face interruption within their access through their application but can recover the recordings directly through the local storage source.
Will it happen again?
Predicting the exact occurrence of future service outages for any cloud provider, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), is challenging. While it's impossible to guarantee that outages won't happen again, several factors are involved.
While cloud providers strive for high availability and minimal downtime, occasional outages can still occur due to the inherent complexities of large-scale cloud infrastructure.
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