AWS Outage Disrupts Ohio State’s CarmenCanvas and Grubhub, Impacting Students and Campus Food Services

Homework remained unfinished and on-campus food wait times soared as CarmenCanvas and Grubhub were inaccessible for most of Monday

A widespread disruption in Amazon Web Services (AWS) early Monday morning caused major outages across the United States, affecting critical platforms such as Ohio State University’s CarmenCanvas learning management system and the Grubhub food ordering app. The outage rendered educational and food services inaccessible for hours, stressing students and faculty alike. The incident highlights the dependence on cloud computing infrastructure for essential campus services and the cascading effects when technical failures occur.

• Amazon Web Services experienced a global outage beginning early Monday, affecting numerous websites including Ohio State’s CarmenCanvas and Grubhub.
• CarmenCanvas was unavailable throughout much of the day, finally restored at 7:10 p.m., impacting approximately 70,000 students and over 9,000 courses.
• Grubhub, critical for on-campus food pickup and delivery, was down from late morning until restored between 4 and 5 p.m., disrupting campus dining and causing long wait times.
• The outage was traced back to AWS’s network load balancer monitoring system, which manages online traffic distribution.
• The incident affected multiple universities and services nationwide, including educational platforms and popular consumer apps like Snapchat and Starbucks.

A nationwide AWS outage disrupts key campus services

On Monday morning, students at Ohio State University and numerous other institutions faced unexpected interruptions as AWS, one of the world’s leading cloud computing platforms, suffered an operational failure. According to reports, the outage began around 2 to 3 a.m. Eastern Time, initially causing widespread unavailability of online services hosted on AWS infrastructure. Amazon quickly identified the root of the issue around 5 a.m., linking the problem to a malfunction in the health monitoring system for its network load balancers.

These load balancers are critical for routing internet requests to healthcare servers. When the monitoring system falsely flags healthy servers as unhealthy, traffic is not directed properly, resulting in service interruptions.

At Ohio State, this led to CarmenCanvas displaying error messages informing users the platform was experiencing issues due to an ongoing AWS incident. The system detoured users from completing important academic tasks such as submitting assignments or accessing course materials.

Impact on students and faculty at Ohio State

The outage affected approximately 70,000 students enrolled across Ohio State’s six campuses and disrupted learning in over 9,000 courses. Faculty members were also unable to access gradebooks, complicating grading and academic administration. The disruption was especially critical as it coincided with peak academic periods, including the grading of midterms.

Two hours after the problem was first reported, Ohio State’s Office of Technology and Digital Innovation (OTDI) communicated university-wide that CarmenCanvas was unavailable with no definite restoration timeline. While some services resumed earlier, CarmenCanvas experienced a second outage after briefly coming back online, further frustrating users.

Grubhub outage causes dining chaos on campus

Simultaneously, Grubhub’s campus food ordering system was also down. The app showed no error messages but failed to process orders, leaving students unable to place pickup or delivery requests. Because Grubhub powers mobile ordering at many campus retail dining locations, its outage forced these outlets to close or revert to in-person ordering only, increasing wait times and causing significant inconvenience.

Popular dining spots such as Tyler’s, Lou’s, and 8:15 had to adjust operations, accepting walk-in orders. Residents on meal plans that rely heavily on Grubhub for quick access to food found themselves without the usual services throughout much of the day. The service was eventually restored around 4 to 5 p.m., allowing mobile ordering to resume.

Widespread effects beyond Ohio State

The AWS outage extended beyond Ohio State to affect other universities such as Lindenwood University and Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing, as well as many other educational institutions reliant on cloud-based tools like Canvas for coursework and grading. Reports from student media at the University of Oklahoma and University of Missouri indicated similar disruptions to their online learning platforms.

The problem also hit retail and consumer services like Snapchat, Starbucks’s app, and even the Medicare website, demonstrating the broad dependence of critical services on AWS cloud infrastructure. Industry experts and university officials urged for swift resolution due to the high stakes involved for millions of users.

New post-outage initiatives: Grubhub Snooze Insurance for students

In a somewhat hopeful development, Grubhub has introduced a limited-time service called Snooze Insurance for Grubhub+ Student members through November 1. This novel perk addresses the common student problem of missing late-night food deliveries due to falling asleep.

By texting DELIVERY to a dedicated number on Saturdays, students can receive a $15 promo code for a “do-over” meal to replace any late-night order they slept through. This program is aimed at easing the struggles of college life’s unpredictable schedules, supporting students as they juggle studies, social activities, and rest.

Technical timeline and resolution

• 2–3 a.m.: AWS outage begins.
• 3:30 a.m.: Amazon publicly reports the operational issues.
• 5 a.m.: Amazon identifies the network load balancer monitoring system as root cause.
• 11 a.m.: Grubhub and CarmenCanvas are down; students face difficulties placing orders and accessing educational platforms.
• 4–5 p.m.: Grubhub service restored.
• 7:10 p.m.: CarmenCanvas fully restored.
• 7:56 p.m.: University sends confirmation email about full system restoration.

The incident underscores the complexities and vulnerabilities inherent in modern cloud-based ecosystems critical to education and daily campus life. Institutions are now grappling with contingencies and better preparedness for future disruptions.

Conclusion

The AWS outage on Monday served as a stark reminder of how intertwined digital infrastructure is with everyday activities like education and campus dining. For students and university staff, the disruption affected homework submission, course access, and access to meals — essentials to academic success and campus life. While services have since been restored, the incident highlights the need for robust backup plans and clear communication strategies to minimize the impact when such outages inevitably occur again in the future. Meanwhile, initiatives like Grubhub’s Snooze Insurance provide a creative approach to student needs in the face of unpredictability.

Questions and answers

Q: AWS outage impact on universities

A: AWS outages can significantly affect universities that rely on Amazon Web Services for hosting websites, online learning platforms, data storage, and other digital services. During an outage, students and faculty may experience disrupted access to course materials, communication tools, and administrative systems. This can hinder teaching and learning activities, forcing institutions to seek alternative solutions or delay certain operations until service is restored.

Q: Ohio State CarmenCanvas not working

A: If Ohio State University's CarmenCanvas platform is not working, students may be unable to access course content, submit assignments, or participate in discussions. This issue can be caused by server problems, scheduled maintenance, or technical glitches. To resolve this, users should check Ohio State's IT status page for announcements, contact their support team, and try basic troubleshooting such as clearing browser cache or switching browsers.

Q: Grubhub campus outage today

A: A Grubhub campus outage means that students and staff on certain university campuses are temporarily unable to use the Grubhub app or website to order food. This disruption could be due to technical issues with Grubhub's platform or local network problems. Users are advised to check Grubhub's status updates, consider alternative food delivery services, or order directly from local restaurants until the issue is fixed.

Q: Solutions to cloud service disruptions for students

A: To mitigate the impact of cloud service disruptions, students can adopt several strategies such as downloading important course materials for offline access and using alternative platforms if their primary service is down. Universities can also provide backup systems or communicate promptly about outages. Additionally, maintaining good communication with instructors and peers helps manage deadlines and coursework during outages.

Q: Grubhub Snooze Insurance details

A: Grubhub Snooze Insurance is an optional service that allows users to pause their subscription or orders without penalties during unexpected situations. It typically covers instances like travel or personal emergencies, providing flexibility and peace of mind for frequent users. For specific details such as coverage terms, costs, and how to activate the service, users should review Grubhub’s official resources or contact customer support.

Key Entities

Amazon Web Services: Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a leading cloud computing platform offering a wide range of services including storage, computing power, and databases. It supports businesses and institutions worldwide by providing scalable and secure infrastructure solutions.

Ohio State University: Ohio State University is a large public research university located in Columbus, Ohio, known for its diverse academic programs and research initiatives. It serves a significant student population and contributes extensively to advancements in various fields.

CarmenCanvas: CarmenCanvas is an online learning management system used by Ohio State University to deliver course content and facilitate communication between students and instructors. It integrates tools for grading, assignments, and collaboration to enhance the educational experience.

Grubhub: Grubhub is an online food delivery service connecting consumers with local restaurants across the United States. It offers a convenient platform for ordering meals and supports a vast network of eateries to reach customers efficiently.

Lindenwood University: Lindenwood University is a private university based in Missouri, known for its comprehensive undergraduate and graduate programs. The institution emphasizes personalized education and has expanded its online learning offerings.

External articles

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YouTube Video

Title: AWS Outage Explained | October 20, 2025
URL: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sqDStXE5mjc