Amazon Web Services cannot restore service to facilities in Bahrain and the UAE six months after drone strikes in March damaged data centres in the region, according to CNBC.
Key facts
- AWS says it cannot restore service to facilities in Bahrain and the UAE, according to CNBC.
- The statement comes roughly six months after drone strikes in the region.
- Two Amazon data centres in the UAE were struck by drones in March, CNBC reported.
- A further site was damaged by a nearby drone hit, according to CNBC.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has said it is unable to restore service to facilities in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, six months after drone strikes damaged sites in the region, according to CNBC.
The damage dates back to March, when, according to CNBC, two Amazon data centres in the UAE were struck by drones. A separate site was also damaged by a nearby drone hit.
The disclosure that service still cannot be restored, made roughly half a year after the strikes, points to the scale of the disruption at the affected facilities. CNBC reported the development on 15 September.
Data centres form the physical backbone of cloud computing services, hosting the servers and storage that businesses and other organisations rely on to run applications and store data. Prolonged outages at such sites can affect customers who depend on the infrastructure.
The available reporting does not identify who was responsible for the drone strikes, nor does it provide further detail on the affected facilities beyond the confirmation that service remains unavailable and the description of the March damage.
Why it matters
Cloud data centres underpin a wide range of business and consumer services, so a lengthy inability to restore facilities can ripple out to customers who rely on that infrastructure. The situation also highlights how regional security incidents can directly disrupt critical technology infrastructure.
Frequently asked questions
What happened to the AWS facilities?
According to CNBC, two Amazon data centers in the UAE were struck by drones in March, and a further site was damaged by a nearby drone hit. AWS says it cannot restore service to facilities in Bahrain and the UAE.
When did the strikes occur?
CNBC reports the drone strikes took place in March, roughly six months before AWS said it could not restore service.
Which locations are affected?
AWS says service cannot be restored to facilities in Bahrain and the UAE, with the reported drone damage in March involving data centers in the UAE.