Drone Strikes Damage Amazon AWS Centers in Middle East
Amazon has reported significant damage to three of its data centers in the Middle East, attributed to recent drone strikes linked to the ongoing US-Iran conflict. The affected facilities include two in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain.
Impact of Drone Strikes on AWS Centers
The two UAE facilities suffered direct strikes, while the Bahraini site was hit nearby. This situation has resulted in structural damage, power outages, and water damage due to fire suppression efforts. Amazon stated it is prioritizing personnel safety during the recovery process.
Disruption of Services
The drone strikes have severely impacted several Amazon Web Services (AWS) offerings, including:
- EC2 Compute
- S3 Cloud Storage
- DynamoDB Database
Amazon warned that the ongoing conflict renders the operational landscape in the Middle East unpredictable, leading to an anticipated prolonged recovery time.
Recovery Efforts Underway
As of their latest update, Amazon reported “incremental progress” in restoring functionality to the DynamoDB and S3 systems. However, they estimate it will take at least another day to fully restore power and connectivity. Customers with workloads in the region are urged to back up their data and consider migrating to alternative AWS Regions.
Details from Internal Documents
An internal document obtained by Business Insider has shed light on the extent of the damage. It indicated that staff had to be evacuated, and at least one of the data centers was closed due to structural damage and flooding caused by the strikes.
Specific Damage Report
The Amazon data center, presumably located in Dubai and referred to as DXB62, experienced severe structural harm. Floodwaters reached initial levels of 3 to 4 centimeters before decreasing. Notably, the damage resulted in:
- 14 EC2 cloud server racks being knocked offline
- Five other production racks impacted
Additionally, cooling systems malfunctioned, affecting temperature regulation. Thirty cameras monitored conditions inside the facility.
Further Site Impact
A second facility, DXB61, was shut down following an indirect strike, which caused a small fire that was quickly extinguished. Access to the site requires government clearance. The third site, DXB60, faced localized WiFi outages.
With tensions continuing in the region, the impact of such incidents on cloud services remains a concern for Amazon and its customers.
