Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform is facing significant disruptions after multiple undersea fiber optic cables were severed in the Red Sea.
The US technology giant confirmed that users would experience delays and increased latency for services relying on internet traffic moving through the Middle East, although it has successfully rerouted data to prevent a complete outage.
The company stated that the issue began at approximately 05:45 UTC on Saturday, September 6. In a status update, Microsoft explained, “Network traffic traversing through the Middle East may experience increased latency due to undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea.”
It assured customers that service was not interrupted, as traffic was immediately redirected through alternate network paths.
However, the company warned, “We do expect higher latency on some traffic that previously traversed through the Middle East.” Microsoft did not provide any details regarding the cause of the cable damage.
The Impact of Latency
For businesses and users relying on Azure, increased latency translates to slower response times for applications, websites, and data access.
While not a full-scale outage, these delays can impact performance-sensitive operations, such as financial transactions, real-time data processing, and cloud-hosted services that require near-instantaneous communication.
The rerouting of data, while a critical mitigation step, means information must travel a longer, less direct path to its destination, creating a noticeable lag for affected users in various regions.
The Red Sea serves as a vital and heavily trafficked corridor for global internet connectivity, linking Europe, Asia, and Africa
A significant portion of the world’s internet data passes through the subsea cables laid on its seabed. Damage in this narrow channel can have a disproportionately large impact on international connectivity.
This incident follows other reports from the weekend suggesting that the cable cuts had already affected internet services in the United Arab Emirates and parts of Asia, indicating a potentially widespread problem affecting multiple telecommunication providers.
Microsoft confirmed that network traffic not routed through the Middle East remains completely unaffected by the incident.
The company is continuing to monitor the situation closely and has promised to provide daily updates to its customers, with the last communication being logged at 19:52 UTC on September 7.
The focus remains on managing network performance via the alternate routes while awaiting further information on the complex and costly process of repairing the damaged deep-sea infrastructure. The cause of the cuts is still under investigation.
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