BunnyCDN Has Been Silently Losing Production Files for 15 Months

BunnyCDN Has Been Silently Losing Production Files for 15 Months Without Notifying Customers

A developer has revealed that BunnyCDN, a popular content delivery network, has been silently losing production files stored on their storage service for over 15 months without notifying affected customers. The Reddit post on r/webdev has gained significant attention with the story now appearing on Hacker News at 44 points.

What Happened

According to the report:

• Files disappearing: Production files stored on BunnyCDN Storage were being silently deleted
• No notification: Customers were not informed about the data loss
• 15 months duration: The issue persisted for over a year
• Production impact: Affected websites were serving broken images, videos, and downloads
• Silent failure: No error logs, no alerts, no warning signs

Why This Is Alarming

1. Trust violation: A CDN primary job is data reliability. Silent data loss is the worst possible failure mode
2. No monitoring: Customers had no way to know their files were disappearing
3. Production impact: Real websites serving real users with broken assets
4. Duration: 15 months suggests systemic issues, not isolated incidents
5. Response: The slow and inadequate response from BunnyCDN compounded the problem

The CDN Reliability Problem

This incident highlights broader concerns about CDN reliability:

• S3 compatibility does not mean S3 reliability: BunnyCDN offers S3-compatible storage but clearly lacks the durability guarantees
• Cost vs reliability tradeoff: BunnyCDN is known for low prices, but this may come at the cost of reliability
• No SLA enforcement: Many CDN storage services lack meaningful service level agreements
• Backup responsibility: Customers ultimately bear responsibility for their own backups

Community Reaction

The discussion revealed several key themes:

• Multiple affected customers: This was not an isolated incident
• BunnyCDN response: Company acknowledged the issue but response was slow
• Migration discussions: Many customers considering switching to alternatives
• Backup strategies: Developers sharing their multi-provider backup approaches

Lessons for Developers

1. Never trust a single provider: Always have backups on at least one other service
2. Monitor storage integrity: Regularly verify file counts and checksums
3. Consider the cost of data loss: Cheap CDN is expensive if you lose production data
4. Read the fine print: Understand what durability guarantees your provider actually offers

Alternatives

Developers mentioned several alternatives:

• AWS S3 + CloudFront: Industry standard with strong durability guarantees
• Cloudflare R2: S3-compatible storage with zero egress fees
• Backblaze B2: Cost-effective with 11 nines of durability
• DigitalOcean Spaces: Simple and reliable

Source: Reddit r/webdev / HN — 44 points