Microsoft hints at bit bunkers for war zones

President Brad Smith tells an interviewer that Microsoft is reconsidering datacenter design in light of Iran war

Microsoft is reevaluating how it designs and builds datacenters in conflict-prone regions after Iran began targeting Middle Eastern bit barns in retaliation for US military operations.

These attacks "will have some influence over time on the design and construction of datacenters and it may not be the same everywhere," the software giant's President Brad Smith told Nikkei Asia in a recent interview, evoking images of armored datacenters or perhaps bit bunkers.

Smith also called for "strong international rules to promote the protection of civilian infrastructure," which he argued should include datacenters.

Microsoft is no stranger to cyberattacks on its infrastructure and systems, but has yet to suffer the kinetic attacks that Iran last month directed at multiple datacenters in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain.

Iranian state media later claimed these strikes were intentional and justified the attacks on the grounds that datacenters may support US military and intelligence operations.

Iran has since threatened strikes on OpenAI's Stargate datacenters, located just across the Persian Gulf in the UAE.

Microsoft's datacenter footprint in the Middle East is substantial. The company already operates facilities in the UAE, Qatar, and Israel, and plans to commence operations in Saudi Arabia later this year. All of those locations are within striking distance of Iran.

To our knowledge, none of Microsoft's facilities have been damaged since US President Donald Trump launched his unprovoked attack on Iran in late February. El Reg reached out to the folks in Redmond to confirm; we'll let you know if we hear anything back. ®