Also weird that only some assets yield a 403, whereas others load. Maybe because the ones which load are still cached by the CDN, but on cache misses the files can't be fetched anymore.
Their systems are so decoupled, a true sign of quality modularized engineering /s.
All kidding aside, I rarely find that status pages seem to reflect reality when something is obviously broken on a main website of application. Anyone know why this seems to be the case? Perhaps my experience is just anecdata so I could be wrong.
Status pages are generally updated manually, so they either haven't updated it yet, or as another commenter mentioned, the linked status page doesn't have a category for the services that are currently failing.
Probably baked as a static site, uploaded to an object-storage bucket, fronted with a CDN. Object storage providers (first AWS, but then copied elsewhere) serve 403 instead of 404 when an object doesn't exist in the bucket, to truly hide objects that users don't have access to, by making "unauthorized" indistinguishable from "doesn't exist."
There's an error showing on the page [an error occurred while processing this directive] which I'm pretty sure I've seen before with WordPress but I'm guessing it's not using that.
But now I'm curious does anyone know what stack or cms they're using? All built and managed in house?
A cursory glance shows Apache. Akamai for their CDN. Sentry for tracking. Years ago Apple used to use Script.aculo.us and Prototype, but of course that was ages ago. They seem to have an internal CSS framework they use, as well as custom JavaScript per-page, in-house iconography, and a many-years-old page architecture with component names like the globalnav and globalfooter. They have an internal package org called "marcom" which is short for Apple Marketing Communications.
Over the years, I've watched their front-end change but for the most part, their page architecture has stayed the same. It's actually really nice from the point of view that they got something right, and didn't screw around with it every single year like how most front end web developers seem to do for the sake of doing it.
Their web pages, along with some of the other high class work on say, Awwwards, are a masterclass example of learning from top talent.
I know it's not the case, but I really like the thought of the Apple.com website being powered by a version of macOS with a built-in Apache web server.
I remember checking Netcraft to see what server software different sites used and how long those machines had been up. The example graph [1] was www.apple.com and showed the switchover from Solaris to OS X (running, you guessed it, Apache) back around 2000.
I worked at HBO in the '90s. They (used to?) broadcast from Hauppauge, NY. They had multiple backup systems, but at the end of those systems there was a final backup. If all else failed, there was a classic Betamax tape deck, with a cassette in it -- press play and hit a switch, and that was HBO.
It's weird there doesn't seem to be something like that for serving web pages.
Sorry, my fault. I'm at the Apple data center and, well, it's all a bit embarrassing. The whole site is run off a single (far ahead of its time) Newton and... I tripped over the power cable.
The battery is long dead so it's got to be plugged all the time, only when I kicked the cable out of the wall it sheared off the bit that plugs into the Newton and no one in this place has any other cables except lighting & usb c. A repair should be easy but those of us here in the data center have all kinds of certs but not much on the physical HW side of things. Tim's old so we got him down here real quick but it turns out he's not nearly as good with a soldering iron as Woz was.
A few years back we could have found a hobby jockey easy enough but it's a bit after hours and the usual folks that would hang around the local Radio Shack have nowhere to go these days.
We found a local lady that makes the most fabulous stained glass you could want and even though she's a diehard Android user she's agreed to come on over to stick that end bit back on the wire. She's not even going to charge us if we let her put a little glass android on the wall wart side of things. She's insistent on a good work-life balance though and won't come out until family time with the kids is over & her husband gets them off to bed, so it will just be another hour or so.
Anyway, sorry about the downtime. I'm as impressed as anyone that the Newton handles things so well but we should really invest in some sort of backup so the next time someone (well, me) gets to watching the latest Rings of Power episode on their phone they don't make the front page of HN by not watching where they're going as they make their way back from the vending machines (salt & vinegar chips, so it was still worth it.)
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[ 2.3 ms ] story [ 116 ms ] threadAlso weird that only some assets yield a 403, whereas others load. Maybe because the ones which load are still cached by the CDN, but on cache misses the files can't be fetched anymore.
Or https://motherfuckingwebsite.com/ is the new style.
iPhone XV will have a text based menu to replace app icons.
All kidding aside, I rarely find that status pages seem to reflect reality when something is obviously broken on a main website of application. Anyone know why this seems to be the case? Perhaps my experience is just anecdata so I could be wrong.
Can someone elaborate as to why this would be a 403 [2] error as opposed to maybe a 401?
[1] https://imgur.com/gallery/nWteVUn
[2] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Status/403
401, Unauthorized, implies authentication (credentials).
But now I'm curious does anyone know what stack or cms they're using? All built and managed in house?
Over the years, I've watched their front-end change but for the most part, their page architecture has stayed the same. It's actually really nice from the point of view that they got something right, and didn't screw around with it every single year like how most front end web developers seem to do for the sake of doing it.
Their web pages, along with some of the other high class work on say, Awwwards, are a masterclass example of learning from top talent.
[1]: https://www.apple.com/v/home/
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access this resource.
Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
But other pages plenty of images are now 403.
[edit]
And are gradually turning into 200 on an individual basis... definitely feels like a CDN/Edge caching thing.
www.apple.com. 0 IN CNAME www.apple.com.edgekey.net.
[1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20050207085707/http://uptime.net...
It's weird there doesn't seem to be something like that for serving web pages.
The battery is long dead so it's got to be plugged all the time, only when I kicked the cable out of the wall it sheared off the bit that plugs into the Newton and no one in this place has any other cables except lighting & usb c. A repair should be easy but those of us here in the data center have all kinds of certs but not much on the physical HW side of things. Tim's old so we got him down here real quick but it turns out he's not nearly as good with a soldering iron as Woz was.
A few years back we could have found a hobby jockey easy enough but it's a bit after hours and the usual folks that would hang around the local Radio Shack have nowhere to go these days.
We found a local lady that makes the most fabulous stained glass you could want and even though she's a diehard Android user she's agreed to come on over to stick that end bit back on the wire. She's not even going to charge us if we let her put a little glass android on the wall wart side of things. She's insistent on a good work-life balance though and won't come out until family time with the kids is over & her husband gets them off to bed, so it will just be another hour or so.
Anyway, sorry about the downtime. I'm as impressed as anyone that the Newton handles things so well but we should really invest in some sort of backup so the next time someone (well, me) gets to watching the latest Rings of Power episode on their phone they don't make the front page of HN by not watching where they're going as they make their way back from the vending machines (salt & vinegar chips, so it was still worth it.)