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InfluxDB Cloud shuts down in Belgium; some weren't notified before data deletion

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Re: InfluxDB Cloud shuts down in Belgium; some weren't notified before data deletion

#3
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

Re: InfluxDB Cloud shuts down in Belgium; some weren't notified before data deletion

#4
> According to the support, the notification emails to the users were sent on Feb 23, Apr 6 and May 15th. However, we did not receive those at all.

If true, this is concerning. One message getting lost in spam understandable. But three over 6 months would imply they're being blacklisted and/or their mail sender is simply broken.

Do serious companies not have canaries or other checks in place to ensure their notifications are correctly delivered to customers?

Re: InfluxDB Cloud shuts down in Belgium; some weren't notified before data deletion

#5
post #4

> According to the support, the notification emails to the users were sent on Feb 23, Apr 6 and May 15th. However, we did not receive those at all. If true, this is concerning. One message getting lost in spam understandable. But three over 6 months would imply they're being blacklisted and/or their mail sender is simply broken. Do serious companies not have canaries or other checks in place to ensure their notificat…

A check on the expected migration progress and usage patterns in the region should have also rung a bell.

Re: InfluxDB Cloud shuts down in Belgium; some weren't notified before data deletion

#8
This kind of thing really does need a cooling off period.

Assume that your users won't see your emails. How do you help them avoid data loss when you shut down a service like this?

One option that I like is to take the service down (hence loudly breaking things that were depending on it) but keep backed up copies of the data for a while longer - ideally a month or more, but maybe just two weeks.

That way users who didn't see your messaging have a chance to get in touch and recover any data they would otherwise lose.

I'm not sure how best to handle the liability issues involved with storing backups of data for a period of time. Presumably the terms and conditions for a service can be designed to support this kind of backup storage "grace period" for these situations.

Re: InfluxDB Cloud shuts down in Belgium; some weren't notified before data deletion

#9
post #8

This kind of thing really does need a cooling off period. Assume that your users won't see your emails. How do you help them avoid data loss when you shut down a service like this? One option that I like is to take the service down (hence loudly breaking things that were depending on it) but keep backed up copies of the data for a while longer - ideally a month or more, but maybe just two weeks. That way users who di…

you start with reliability brownouts. first fail 0.1% requests, then after a week 1%, then after a month 5%.
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