Want to break Netflix? It'll pay you to do the job

In 2012, Netflix open sourced a tool called Chaos Monkey that it uses to test its networks and systems by trying to break them with attacks based on all sorts of chaotic events. Now the company wants to hire a “Senior Chaos Engineer” to do the same … only more painfully. As the company's job ad puts it “... your mission, …

[ecofeco]

"You keep using that word, but I don't think...

“Chaos Engineering is entirely focused on controlled failure injection”

I don't think they quite grasp the concept.

Not enough ways to say FAIL here. ------------------------------>>

[NP-Hardass]

Re: "You keep using that word, but I don't think...

The phrase "controlled failure injection" is way over used in this article. I was reading going "hmm, so glad they clarified that one for me."

[John Tserkezis]

They can get someone to break it free of charge. Just say "we are unbreakable, we simply cannot be brought down, it's impossible". Then wait for every script kiddy try their luck - at the same time. They like nothing more than a good challenge...

[Anonymous Coward]

Already Broken??

I can't find any decent shows I'd like to watch, someone's been at it already!!

oh wait, no - thats just normal Netflix service.

[Destroy All Monsters]

WTF LOL

A person who has

“Exceptional Java, C# or C++, object oriented design and programming skills”

but only

“Solid understanding of data structures, concurrency and algorithms.”

?

Yeah, I know those. "Code now, cry later (which someone else doing the crying)" people who are best kept away from the keyboard until they know what they are doing. Easy to find, problematic to kill reeducate.

[MiguelC]

Don't want the job

Just business cards bearing that title!!

[chrisf1]

BuSab

Can't help but recall Frank Herbert's Bureau of Sabotage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Sabotage

[pewpie]

Don't need to break it.

The concept is already broken at inception. Due to the lack of original new content produced in the world (then added to the site), once you've watched anything actually worth watching the subscription becomes unjustifiable.

[Anonymous Coward]

I cry inside a little bit whenever I see one of these adverts. Every company now claims to want and to be hiring only uber coders who live, breath and eat code. Is it just marketing nonsense or have they convinced themselves that they have somehow managed to only pick the best of the best? If they have all picked the best of the best what are the other 90% of programmers doing? I'm none to shabby at banging out a bit of code but I don't have the self delusion that I'm in the top 10% but I've found gainful employment for more years that I would like.

[TitterYeNot]

Mandarins are not the only fruit...

Dear Netflix,

You want Chaos? You want controlled failure injection? Please do pay a visit to Whitehall, we have many experts on the subject with regards to civil service IT projects, who would love to experience your generous severance package.

Take as many as you'd like. No, really, please...

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps the uber coders can fix the watch list that gets deleted if you move country, the need to delete account to fix said watch list problem and the retards on support that don't understand how to fix simple issues.

[MikeyD85]

BOFH

I'm sure this is a job of the BOFH. Chaos Monkey? No problem.

[mIRCat]

You're getting what you pay for.

“adequate performance gets a generous severance package.”

I'll take one of those, please.

[JLV]

expect failure

I rather like Netflix's approach that things will fail and you need to recover gracefully. Most IT professionals will agree with that. But Netflix goes one step further and actively develops systems that get the carpet pulled from under them, in the form of randomly failing components. Call it productive paranoia.

A lot of IT pros could learn from that. And, in terms of security, a lot of IT could learn from the same approach, tweaked to trigger failure on unusual/excessive access.

"What, the same IP is now downloading 1MB of confidential data/minute, for the last 3 hours, whatever for?"

"Hmmm, why am I seeing a 'select * from credit_card_table' with no customer_id specified?"

Far as Netflix's programming goes, it suffices amply to keep my brain sedated on the boob tube. The key is not to expect to find something you want on Netflix. Chances are it won't have it. Rather it works if you are content with the occasional gem* that you find on it. For less than a quarter of the price of basic cable TV, I am quite happy with it. Not least because I find cable TV a ripoff and general TV programming dumb as a bag of nails.

* N. has lots of really good BBC content in Canada that you wouldn't find anywhere else.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you can do all of this....

The company says “Chaos Engineering is entirely focused on controlled failure injection” and advises that would-be Chaos Engineers will have “built and run complex distributed systems at web-scale” and “Enjoy breaking things, but know how to fix them as well”. You'll also need “Exceptional Java, C# or C++, object oriented design and programming skills” and “Solid understanding of data structures, concurrency and algorithms.”

....wouldn't you be better off building your own Death Star?