I've been working on that for a client since yesterday (as a fractional CTO). Pretty hectic, basically nothing really works and we don't know yet if all data is lost or if anything is recoverable or when AWS UAE will become functional again so we can recover that region.
Finally, I have a very good argument for multi-region deployments ;))
We didn't do multi-region deployments, but we did store database backups in a separate region just in case something really bad happened and our AWS region became unavailable. Also had a plan/some ready Terraform stuff in order to start setting up a deployment if it became apparent that the region wasn't coming back anytime soon.
IMO, if you're using AWS and not replicating your data somewhere else, this should be an eye-opener for you.
Lesson learned: If your recovery plan requires calling any API in the dead region — to detach an IP, describe a route table, launch an instance, read an S3 object, or decrypt a volume — it will fail when you need it most.
Every dependency on the primary region is a dependency on the thing that just broke.
In the eighties my friends and I used to think we would be the first to go in a nuclear strike because we were close to an American air base. Now I have to worry about living close to an Amazon data centre.
Hmmm. We’ve seen the fun that comes from cutting data cables and pipelines. Think that’s been factored in with the asymmetric warfare coming from the Middle East? Perhaps some network assaults as well?
Krugman has pointed out that modern war is bloody expensive. Perhaps resistance will just be helping burn money? Lots of motivated people on one side. And I hope countries are being careful, as a Thirty Years War in the Middle East would suck.
the DR test isn't 'can we run in region B.' it's 'can we cut over to region B when every API call to region A returns a timeout.' most recovery plans assume they can still reach the thing that just broke
> Two facilities in the United Arab Emirates sustained direct hits, while a third facility in Bahrain was damaged by a drone strike "in close proximity,"
Also to add context: AWS has contracts with the US military: "The Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract enables AWS to continue providing Department of Defense (DoD) customers with secure, reliable, and mission-critical cloud services." https://aws.amazon.com/federal/defense/jwcc/ Making them a target for retaliation ofc.
Amazon is an extremely visible American company, hitting their assets carries a symbolic meaning even if the DoD wouldn't have anything running on that datacentre at all. Iran's trying to transmit a message of "we can destroy your stuff too", trying to impact the general US feeling of invulnerability.
I don't think it'll work, but they might as well try I guess.
Typical BBC reporting: Amazon's cloud computing business says drones have hit three of its facilities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain following US and Israeli strikes against Iran at the weekend. The incidents occurred on Sunday morning, with Amazon Web Services (AWS) saying at the time that ''objects'' had hit a data centre in the UAE, creating ''sparks and fire''. Also on Sunday, AWS said it was investigating power and connectivity issues at a facility in Bahrain. On Monday, the company confirmed that drone strikes had caused the outages.
Notice how they do not mention that the facilities were damaged by Iranian attacks on the UAE and Bahrain but following US and Israeli strikes against Iran at the weekend.
Somewhat OT but it remains remarkable how the knee-jerk down-vote-button brigade feels the need to vote down a totally unrelated post on getting a refund for a Microsoft Home Server [1] and one on the relation between hardware + low-level systems software capabilities versus applications software just because I happened to voice an opinion outside of their desired narrative. Grow up, people. If your opinions are so weakly founded that you feel the need to 'punish' those who dare to voice dissent you should get some more soundly founded ones.
RamblingCTO|9 hours ago
Finally, I have a very good argument for multi-region deployments ;))
that's my go to website atm: https://health.aws.amazon.com/health/status
crossroadsguy|9 hours ago
So if data won't be recoverable you all will mark it something like "Status: FUBAR" or some equivalent term?
richsouth|9 hours ago
Hamuko|9 hours ago
IMO, if you're using AWS and not replicating your data somewhere else, this should be an eye-opener for you.
SirFatty|8 hours ago
chinathrow|9 hours ago
xer|9 hours ago
Every dependency on the primary region is a dependency on the thing that just broke.
tonyedgecombe|8 hours ago
jleyank|9 hours ago
Krugman has pointed out that modern war is bloody expensive. Perhaps resistance will just be helping burn money? Lots of motivated people on one side. And I hope countries are being careful, as a Thirty Years War in the Middle East would suck.
kevincloudsec|4 hours ago
r721|9 hours ago
butler14|9 hours ago
wongarsu|9 hours ago
lyu07282|8 hours ago
LAC-Tech|9 hours ago
joe_mamba|9 hours ago
> Strikes hit AWS datacenter
> Antropic aided strikes causes Anthropic outage lol
[1] https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/iran-strikes-2026/card/u-s-...
lyu07282|10 hours ago
> Two facilities in the United Arab Emirates sustained direct hits, while a third facility in Bahrain was damaged by a drone strike "in close proximity,"
Also to add context: AWS has contracts with the US military: "The Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract enables AWS to continue providing Department of Defense (DoD) customers with secure, reliable, and mission-critical cloud services." https://aws.amazon.com/federal/defense/jwcc/ Making them a target for retaliation ofc.
WJW|10 hours ago
I don't think it'll work, but they might as well try I guess.
globalnode|10 hours ago
hagbard_c|1 hour ago
Notice how they do not mention that the facilities were damaged by Iranian attacks on the UAE and Bahrain but following US and Israeli strikes against Iran at the weekend.
hagbard_c|41 minutes ago
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47234722
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47235349