CHARLESTON – In the early morning hours of Oct. 20, Amazon Web Services experienced a widespread systems error that temporarily knocked users offline across more than 100 of its platforms, disrupting access to email, popular websites and cloud-based applications — including tools used by local school districts.

In Charleston County, for example, students were unable to access their district-issued computers for online learning.

“The AWS outage has impacted our operations, both for student devices like Chromebooks and applications used by teachers, staff members and students,” spokesman Andy Pruitt said.

Dorchester District 2 students also experienced problems.

“The outage has impacted some websites and applications,” said Brian Bohannon, director of community engagement.

In an early

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