Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • Cybersecurity

    Spate of Cloud Outages Plague Microsoft Azure

    By
    Pedro Hernandez
    -
    August 19, 2014
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      cloud computing

      Microsoft is quickly having to come to grips with one of the major drawbacks of its “cloud-first” strategy: service outages.

      Since Aug. 15, the company has been beset with outages affecting its Azure cloud computing platform, which powers the company’s growing infrastructure- and software-as-a-service portfolio. The interruptions culminated on Aug. 18 with widespread reports of inaccessible services.

      On Aug. 15, some customers were greeted with a 500 Internal Server Error message when they tried to log into the Azure Management Portal. In Japan, customers serviced by the company’s Japan East facility reported issues accessing all Azure services.

      Microsoft resolved those issues, but trouble would soon rear its head.

      Just before 1 p.m. ET on Aug. 18, Microsoft confirmed that multiple Azure offerings were suffering a “full service interruption.” The long list of affected services, according to a company bulletin, included “Cloud Services, Virtual Machines, Websites, Automation, Service Bus, Backup, Site Recovery, HDInsight, Mobile Services, StorSimple and possible other Azure Services in multiple regions.” By that evening, Azure’s problems had been resolved.

      The outages occurred just as the company rolled out its cloud-based big data solution in two additional regions, calling into question the cloud’s suitability for mission-critical enterprise workloads.

      On Aug. 15, Microsoft announced general availability of HDInsight in the Japan West and US Central regions, “joining US North Central, US South Central, and Asia Pacific East,” stated the company in its announcement. The expansion enables area customers to “host HDInsight in those regions with the same service-level agreement coverage available in other regions around the world,” asserted the company.

      The service, officially launched in late October, allows customers to quickly spin up clusters based on Apache Hadoop, the leading open-source big data processing platform, on Microsoft’s cloud. “Microsoft recognizes Hadoop as a standard and is investing to ensure that it’s an integral part of our enterprise offerings,” stated Quentin Clark, Microsoft Data Platform Group vice president, during the HDInsight launch.

      As of Aug. 19, Azure’s service dashboard shows the all-clear, after lingering issues that affected customers in East Asia and in Western and North European regions were patched up.

      On June 24, several Exchange Online customers were unable to retrieve emails or update their calendars during an Azure service disruption that hit squarely in the middle of the workday for many U.S. firms. A day earlier, the company’s cloud-based communications platform Lync Online suffered from some unplanned downtime.

      Cloud outages may be a fact of life, but Microsoft has reason to limit their impact, if not attempt to avoid them altogether.

      Business cloud revenue is up for Microsoft, reported CEO Satya Nadella during the recent release of the company’s fiscal 2014 fourth-quarter earnings. “I’m proud that our aggressive move to the cloud is paying off—our commercial cloud revenue doubled again this year to a $4.4 billion annual run rate,” he said in a statement.

      Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner added that his company was “thrilled with the tremendous momentum of our cloud offerings, with Office 365 and Azure both growing over 100 percent again.”

      Pedro Hernandez
      Pedro Hernandez is a contributor to eWEEK and the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Previously, he served as a managing editor for the Internet.com network of IT-related websites and as the Green IT curator for GigaOM Pro.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×