A Microsoft Azure outage left users across the globe unable to access key services for a couple of hours on 15 September because of a DNS (domain name system) malfunction
The problems began just before midday, UTC time, with Microsoft warning users on its Azure status page that they might encounter availability issues when trying to use a range of the company’s cloud services, including SQL database and Azure backup. The company cited a spike in networking traffic as the root cause of the problems, which were reportedly resolved around 1pm UTC time.
Microsoft was not the only cloud provider to run into technical difficulties, with Google Apps for Work users across the US and UK unable to use the service for 90 minutes on 14 September.
This highlights why companies cannot afford to overlook the importance of business continuity when shifting workloads to the cloud.
In a cloud-first world, you do need to have a strategy in place for when Azure, Office 365 or another critical cloud service goes offline. You need to have plan in place to keep operating when your cloud provider becomes unavailable.
For advice in solving this potential problem contact june@yousystems.co.uk