European Cloud Computing Giant OVH Hit by Major Datacenter Fire and Disruption
OVH, one of the largest cloud computing companies in Europe, has announced that a major fire destroyed one of its Strasbourg datacenters and damaged another, while the company also shut down two other datacenters located at the site as a precautionary measure. The incident, which was thought to have taken more than 3.5 million websites offline, comes during a period of significant activity for OVH.
Background on OVH and its Significance in the Cloud Computing Industry
While AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud often dominate headlines in the cloud computing space, OVH is one of the bigger players outside the "big three" with 27 datacenters globally, 15 of which are located in Europe. This disaster, therefore, has significant implications for the company’s operations and its customers.
OVH’s Recent Developments and Partnerships
OVH has been making waves in recent times, particularly with its partnership with Atos to offer fully EU-made cloud services in an industry dominated by Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. This move is seen as a major step towards supporting European businesses and governments’ digital sovereignty efforts.
Moreover, just this week, OVH revealed that it was in the early planning stages of going public, marking another significant milestone for the company.
Impact on Customers and Businesses
The fire, which broke out around midnight local time today, has caused widespread disruption to OVH’s services. In response, OVH founder and chairman Octave Klaba took to Twitter to recommend that its customers activate their disaster recovery plan:
"We have a major incident on SBG2. The fire declared in the building. Firefighters were immediately on the scene but could not control the fire in SBG2. The whole site has been isolated which impacts all services in SGB1-4. We recommend to activate your Disaster Recovery Plan."
While some businesses, such as Facepunch Studios, have confirmed that they will be unable to restore any data due to the extent of the damage, others are still offline at the time of writing.
Lessons Learned and Importance of Disaster Recovery Planning
The events unfolding in Strasbourg today serve as a stark reminder of the importance of having a robust disaster recovery plan in place. Despite all the benefits that cloud computing brings, companies are still putting their trust in third-party infrastructure.
Having data backups and a well-thought-out disaster recovery plan can help mitigate such incidents and minimize downtime for businesses. It is crucial for companies to prioritize disaster preparedness and have contingency plans in place to ensure business continuity.
OVH’s Recovery Efforts
OVH has announced that it plans to restart two of the unaffected datacenters by this coming Monday (March 15). While this will help alleviate some of the disruption caused by the fire, it remains to be seen how long it will take for all services to be fully restored.
Conclusion
The OVH datacenter fire and subsequent disruption serve as a wake-up call for businesses to prioritize disaster recovery planning and have contingency measures in place. It is crucial for companies to recognize that third-party infrastructure can be vulnerable to such incidents and take proactive steps to mitigate risks.
As the cloud computing industry continues to grow, it is essential for companies like OVH to ensure business continuity and minimize downtime in the event of a disaster. The lessons learned from this incident will undoubtedly shape the future of disaster recovery planning and preparedness in the industry.