Hypergrowth isn't always easy

Tailscale has faced increased scrutiny over its service uptime, particularly during a recent period that included the holiday season, which was marked by several incidents of downtime or slow performance. The company maintains a public uptime history page to ensure transparency and acknowledges that while its architecture is designed to maintain existing connections even during control plane issues, customers attempting to change network configurations can be significantly affected. Tailscale's architectural choices, including a centralized message-bus system, have both benefits and drawbacks, with the company focusing on continuous improvement to minimize future disruptions. Measures include caching network maps to enhance reliability, evolving the coordination service for better stability, and investing in geographic network structuring to reduce the risk of network partitioning. Tailscale is committed to over-communicating with its users about any incidents and encourages users to report issues to aid in ongoing improvements, while also actively seeking new team members to bolster its efforts in scaling and enhancing the service.