Between the Lines
Larry Dignan, Andrew NuscaTokyo earthquake, tsunami puts data centers, cloud services at risk
By Larry Dignan | March 11, 2011, 3:13am PST
Summary
Japan was reeling after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that slammed into Tokyo at midday local time. Here’s a look at the data center and cloud computing impact via ZDNet Japan.
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Larry Dignan
Biography
Larry Dignan
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.
For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.
Andrew Nusca
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Andrew Nusca
Associate Editor
Andrew J. Nusca is an associate editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet. As a journalist based in New York City, he has written for Popular Mechanics and Men's Vogue and his byline has appeared in New York magazine, The Huffington Post, New York Daily News, Editor & Publisher, New York Press and many others. He also writes The Editorialiste, a media criticism blog.
He is a New York University graduate and former news editor and columnist of the Washington Square News. He is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has been named "Howard Kurtz, Jr." by film critic John Lichman despite having no relation to him. He lives in his native Philadelphia with his wife, cat and Boston Terrier.
Japan was reeling after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the Northeast coast and also impacted Tokyo. As a result, much of the Pacific Ocean is under a tsunami warning. The disaster comes as many tech giants were setting up data centers in Tokyo to meet demand for cloud computing services.
It’s unclear how data centers are holding up. TV reports indicate that mobile services are up in Tokyo, but spotty.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake hit:
- 130 km (80 miles) E of Sendai, Honshu, Japan
- 178 km (110 miles) E of Yamagata, Honshu, Japan
- 178 km (110 miles) ENE of Fukushima, Honshu, Japan
- 373 km (231 miles) NE of Tokyo, Japan
ZDNet Japan has been posting the data center availability (Google Translation version). So far, NTT Communications appears to be the hardest hit. The company has lost its IP-VPN connection and was evaluating the building holding the data center.
March 11, 2011 (Friday) due to earthquakes in the Tohoku region around 46 minutes at 14, NTT Communications (abbreviation: NTT Com) has failed in some of our services. The current situation is as follows at 17. To our customers, we have to put you to trouble and inconvenience, I apologize.
Amazon Web Services indicated that services are continuing. Amazon just launched its data center in Tokyo.
Salesforce.com is also indicating that its Japan and Asia Pacific instances are up. Salesforce expects to complete its Tokyo data center this year.
ZDNet Japan has rounded up various disaster recovery issues resulting from the earthquake (translation). CNET Japan also has links to resources (translation).
This recap is just the IT side of the equation. The far larger issue is securing a nuclear reactor at the moment. We’ll update as needed from ZDNet Japan, CNN, BBC and CBS News.
In addition tsunami warnings have been issued for the Pacific coast. The first waves are expected to reach San Francisco about 8 a.m. local time.
Related:
ZDNet AU: Cloud gets post-quake boost (New Zealand)
CNET News: Massive quakes hit Japan, tsunami warnings issued for U.S.
Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily e-mail newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic.
Disclosure
Larry Dignan
Larry Dignan has nothing to disclose. He doesn̢۪t hold investments in the technology companies he covers.
Biography
Larry Dignan
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.
For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.
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