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Microsoft says Azure affected after cables cut in the Red Sea
Microsoft's Azure cloud platform experienced increased latency after multiple undersea cables were cut in the Red Sea, affecting traffic to and from the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. The company is monitoring the situation and optimizing routing to minimize impact, but as of Saturday evening, Azure issues were resolved.
Key points
- Undersea cables in the Red Sea were cut, causing latency in Azure services.
- Clients affected are those in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
- Microsoft did not disclose the identity or motive behind the cable cuts.
- Repairing undersea cables is typically time-consuming.
- Microsoft implemented continuous monitoring and optimization of routing to mitigate problems.
Why it matters
- Undersea cable disruptions can disrupt global connectivity, highlighting vulnerabilities in infrastructure.
- Increased reliance on cloud services like Azure makes such outages critical for businesses.
- Similar incidents, like the 2021 cable cuts in the Mediterranean, demonstrate the risks in global internet infrastructure.
The incident underscores the fragility of global internet infrastructure, affecting major cloud services like Azure, but Microsoft quickly resolved the issues, reflecting the critical role of efficient cloud management.