Schwab database glitch cuts users off from some information

By Maria Trombly

February 13, 2001 12:00 PM ET

Recommended

(2)

Digg

Twitter

Share/Email

Computerworld - Charles Schwab & Co. yesterday was forced to temporarily switch its online trading Web site to a backup server because of a database problem, a move that blocked the discount broker's customers from receiving trade confirmation messages and left them unable to view their previous transaction records.
According to Schwab spokesman Greg Gable, the entire Web site was moved to a backup system for six hours after the company discovered a problem with one of the customer databases on its main server. Usage of the main system was restored at about 5:30 p.m. EST yesterday, he said.
Schwab customers were unable to view historical trading data for the entire six-hour period, Gable said. And during the first hour, he added, users of the Web site couldn't get online confirmations of the trades they were making and were instead asked to contact Schwab representatives by telephone.
Gable said Schwab is still evaluating how many customers were affected by the database problem and the switchover to the backup system. The problem wasn't caused by capacity issues, he said, adding that he was unsure whether the snafu occurred in off-the-shelf software or in a homegrown system.
The glitch at Schwab comes less than three weeks after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a report written by its staff calling for brokerage firms and securities dealers to evaluate their online trading programs and try to "enhance their practices" in areas such as processing performance and security.
As part of the report's release, Lori Richards, director of the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, said it's becoming "ever more important for broker/dealers to ensure that their online systems are meeting the needs and expectations of investors," given the rapid growth in Internet-based trading (see story).
Related stories:

Decimalization finds its first victims at Ameritrade, Feb. 12, 2001

Federal security rules for financial firms issued as 'guidelines', Jan. 17, 2001

Schwab tightens spending, Dec. 18, 2000

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Jump to comments

Financial

Additional Resources

WHITE PAPER

Do You Know the 7 Steps to Successful Data Migration?

Approximately 60 percent of data migration projects overrun time or budget, while some fail completely. Download this white paper, "Enhancing Your Chance for Successful Data Migration," to learn the critical steps you need to take to execute a data migration project with minimum cost and risk to your business.

WHITE PAPER

Total Cost of Ownership of Server Computing Vs. PCs

Read the Gartner research note to learn why the TCO of a server-based computing deployment used to deliver all applications to users is around 50% lower than that of an unmanaged desktop deployment.

WHITE PAPER

IDC White Paper: Linux in a Global Recession

Economic downturns have a tendency to accelerate emerging technologies, boost the adoption of effective solutions, and punish solutions that are not cost competitive or that are out of synch with industry trends. This IDC White Paper presents the results of an IDC survey of 330 companies in Western Europe, Asia/Pacific and the Americas that measures the receptiveness to Linux and takes into consideration changing views driven by the disruptive economic environment that businesses face today.

White Papers & Webcasts

Informatica 9 Launch: Transform your Business. Transform your world.

LIVE Nov 10, 2009 12:00 PM ET

Architecting Business Intelligence Applications for Change: The Open Solution

LIVE Nov 12, 2009 02:00 PM ET

Faster, Cheaper and Easier to Maintain
Can you afford not to upgrade your servers to today's advanced, energy-efficient technologies?

Top to Bottom Performance Management Excellence at the City of Chicago
View now.

Global Distributed Service in the Cloud with F5 and VMware
Learn how F5 and VMware help you orchestrate and deliver access to services in the cloud by providing a robust Application Delivery Networking...

Effectively Implementing Datacenter Automation
Effectively select and deploy the best datacenter automation solution today!

Five Steps to Determine When to Virtualize Your Servers
This white paper outlines five solution-agnostic steps to help you determine when to virtualize your servers.

Aligning IT to Business: The Rising Importance of Application Delivery Networks
Application Delivery Networking (ADN) will play a vital role in helping enterprises incorporate strategic technologies to achieve business initiatives.

Application and Server Virtualization: Better Together
While many IT organizations successfully deploy virtualization, some hesitate to deploy application and server virtualization together.

Strategies for Driving Down IT Support Costs with Lite ITIL Practices
View this now!

An Alternative to Virtualization for Datacenter Cost Savings
Server virtualization is a popular option for dealing with mounting datacenter costs.

Mitigate Risk, Lower Costs and Improve Network Efficiency
Create a stable IP network that not only meets today's challenges, but is flexible enough to also meet future demands.

All White Papers | All Webcasts