From the "Updated - Linden Lab has spotted the problem" it really sounds like they need some classic systems monitoring ala a Network Management System. I would bet that there are some signs of problems developing long before it snowballs to this level. Databases have monitoring tools, network connections can be monitored, systems can be monitored and if built sensibly software can have monitoring components. Systems do have problems but this "everyone knows about them hours before Linden Lab" syndrome seems a bit...silly.