What are some examples of systems that have failed due to a lack of architectural resilience?

1. Healthcare.gov: The online portal for Obamacare health insurance exchanges was a classic example of a system failing due to a lack of architectural resilience. It was unable to handle high volumes of traffic and experienced numerous outages and malfunctions.

2. Target data breach: In 2013, Target experienced a massive data breach that compromised the personal information of millions of customers. The company’s IT systems lacked proper security measures and were not architected to prevent such an attack.

3. Blackouts in the Northeast during 2003: A power grid failure that affected parts of the Northeastern United States and Canada resulted in a blackout that lasted for several days. The power grid system lacked proper redundancies and backup systems, which left it vulnerable to failure.

4. Boeing 737 Max crashes: The two crashes of Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft, which resulted in the deaths of 346 people, were due to a design flaw in its flight control system. The system was not architected to handle multiple failures, which led to a catastrophic failure.

5. Fukushima nuclear disaster: The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 was caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami that overwhelmed the nuclear power plant’s safety systems. The system was not designed to handle such extreme events, resulting in a catastrophic failure.

Publication date: