Amazon data centers damaged by drone strikes in the Middle East

Drone strikes damaged Amazon Web Services data centers in the Middle East, disrupting cloud operations and prompting the company to urge customers to move critical workloads out of the region.

AWS confirmed that two of its data center facilities in the United Arab Emirates were directly struck, while a separate strike near a site in Bahrain also caused infrastructure damage. The attacks disrupted power systems and caused structural damage, impairing two of the three data center sites that make up AWS’s UAE cloud region.

As a result, businesses that rely on AWS to run their websites, store data and process transactions experienced more error rates, slower performance and service interruptions. 

AWS said full recovery will depend in part on repairing physical damage and restoring power and connectivity – a process that could take at least a day and potentially longer.

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The company has urged its customers in the Middle East to activate disaster recovery plans, restore data from backups in other regions and redirect traffic away from the affected facilities. Customers were advised to consider shifting operations to AWS regions in the United States, Europe or Asia-Pacific.

While cloud providers are designed to withstand the loss of a single data center, simultaneous damage to multiple facilities has strained built-in backup systems.

AWS initially described the situation as a localized power issue before later confirming that drone strikes had caused physical damage. The company said it is working with local authorities and prioritizing employee safety as repairs continue.

The company did not say who was responsible for the strikes, but it came amid the ongoing conflict with Iran that has spilled over into the wider region, throwing businesses and economies into uncertainty. 

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When reached for additional details, Amazon referred FOX Business to its AWS Health Dashboard.