AWS Struggles to Restore Service After Six-Month Outage Due to Drone Strikes

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been unable to restore service to its cloud-computing facilities in Bahrain and parts of the United Arab Emirates, six months after they were damaged by drone strikes. The company's assessment found that the damage exceeded what its services are designed to withstand.

AWS said it cannot recover resources and data stored exclusively in these regions and continues to work on restoring two other affected zones in the UAE.

The attacks occurred at the beginning of the Iran war, with Amazon stating that two data centers in the UAE were directly struck by drones, while a facility in Bahrain was damaged by a nearby strike. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the strikes, citing AWS' support for the U.S. military.

The security of future data center developments in the Gulf region has been raised as an issue, with the UAE considering revising plans to build the massive UAE Stargate campus, which was expected to have 5-gigawatt capacity and cover 10 square miles.