• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Cisco Umbrella

Enterprise network security

  • Contact Sales
  • Login
    • Umbrella Login
    • Cloudlock Login
  • Why Us
    • Why Cisco Umbrella
      • Why Try Umbrella
      • Why DNS Security
      • Why Umbrella SASE
      • Our Customers
      • Customer Stories
      • Why Cisco Secure
    • Fast Reliable Cloud
      • Global Cloud Architecture
      • Cloud Network Status
      • Global Cloud Network Activity
    • Unmatched Intelligence
      • A New Approach to Cybersecurity
      • Interactive Intelligence
      • Cyber Attack Prevention
      • Umbrella and Cisco Talos Threat Intelligence
    • Extensive Integrations
      • IT Security Integrations
      • Hardware Integrations
      • Meraki Integration
      • Cisco Umbrella and SecureX
  • Products
    • Cisco Umbrella Products
      • Cisco Umbrella Cloud Security Service
      • Recursive DNS Services
      • Cisco Umbrella SIG
      • Umbrella Investigate
      • What’s New
    • Product Packages
      • Cisco Umbrella Package Comparison
      • – DNS Security Essentials Package
      • – DNS Security Advantage Package
      • – SIG Essentials Package
      • – SIG Advantage Package
      • Umbrella Support Packages
    • Functionality
      • DNS-Layer Security
      • Secure Web Gateway
      • Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)
      • Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
      • Cloud-Delivered Firewall
      • Cloud Malware Protection
      • Remote Browser Isolation (RBI)
    • Man on a laptop with headphones on. He is attending a Cisco Umbrella Live Demo
  • Solutions
    • SASE & SSE Solutions
      • Cisco Umbrella SASE
      • Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
      • What is SASE
      • What is Security Service Edge (SSE)
    • Functionality Solutions
      • Web Content Filtering
      • Secure Direct Internet Access
      • Shadow IT Discovery & App Blocking
      • Fast Incident Response
      • Unified Threat Management
      • Protect Mobile Users
      • Securing Remote and Roaming Users
    • Network Solutions
      • Guest Wi-Fi Security
      • SD-WAN Security
      • Off-Network Endpoint Security
    • Industry Solutions
      • Government and Public Sector Cybersecurity
      • Financial Services Security
        • – FTC Safeguards Rule Compliance 2023
      • Cybersecurity for Manufacturing
      • Higher Education Security
      • K-12 Schools Security
      • Healthcare, Retail and Hospitality Security
      • Enterprise Cloud Security
      • Small Business Cybersecurity
  • Resources
    • Content Library
      • Top Resources
      • Cybersecurity Webinars
      • Events
      • Research Reports
      • Case Studies
      • Videos
      • Datasheets
      • eBooks
      • Solution Briefs
    • International Documents
      • Deutsch/German
      • Español/Spanish
      • Français/French
      • Italiano/Italian
      • 日本語/Japanese
    • Security Definitions
      • What is Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
      • What is Security Service Edge (SSE)
      • What is a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)
      • Cyber Threat Categories and Definitions
    • For Customers
      • Support
      • Customer Success Webinars
      • Cisco Umbrella Studio
      • Free Trial Help and Tips
  • Trends & Threats
    • Market Trends
      • Hybrid Workforce
      • Rise of Remote Workers
      • Secure Internet Gateway (SIG)
    • Security Threats
      • How to Stop Phishing Attacks
      • Malware Detection and Protection
      • Ransomware is on the Rise
      • Cryptomining Malware Protection
      • Cybersecurity Threat Landscape
      • Global Cyber Threat Intelligence
    •  
    • Woman connecting confidently to any device anywhere
  • Partners
    • Channel Partners
      • Partner Program
      • Become a Partner
    • Service Providers
      • Secure Connectivity
      • Managed Security for MSSPs
      • Managed IT for MSPs
    •  
    • Person looking down at laptop. They are connecting and working securely
  • Blog
    • News & Product Posts
      • Latest Posts
      • Products & Services
      • Customer Focus
      • Feature Spotlight
    • Cybersecurity Posts
      • Security
      • Threats
      • Cybersecurity Threat Spotlight
      • Research
    •  
    • Register for a webinar - with illustration of connecting securely to the cloud
  • Contact Us
  • Umbrella Login
  • Cloudlock Login
  • Free Trial
Spotlight

How the Amazon Outage Shows the Need for Carrier-Neutral Colocation Data Centers

Author avatar of Sean CruzSean Cruz
Updated — February 27, 2023 • 3 minute read
View blog >

It’s been over a week since Amazon Web Services experienced the outage that impacted AWS’ main US-East-1 region. For roughly nine hours on December 7, 2021, things built on the AWS platform, from business websites to educational tools, ceased to operate. Then, on December 15, AWS experienced a second outage that affected Amazon’s US-West-1 and US-West-2 regions for roughly 45 minutes.

The Amazon outages are nothing if not a fitting end to a year punctuated by major cloud service providers facing unexpected downtime. They underscore the difficulty of maintaining our interconnected infrastructure. And for enterprises that rely on cloud services, these outages offer a clear lesson: Creating a diverse and fully redundant infrastructure requires having services built on carrier neutrality.

Why the Amazon Outage Had Such Far-Reaching Effects

At the time of the first event, the Cisco Thousand Eyes team captured and reported on the AWS outage. Beginning at 10:45 am ET on December 7, roughly five minutes after the incident started impacting customers, the Thousand Eyes team chronicled users attempting – and failing – to access certain Amazon services and services relying on the AWS platform. According to their reporting, the outage was finally resolved between 7:40 pm ET and 7:50 pm ET.

While the initial outage originated in Amazon’s US-East-1 region, the effects were felt globally. It’s hardly surprising, given that a recent Synergy Research Report revealed that AWS controlled 33% of global cloud infrastructure in the second quarter.1 Large enterprises, small businesses, local school districts, major research universities – many of these institutions rely on AWS. So, when parts of Amazon went dark, many of these organizations went with it.

For IT and security teams, an infrastructure outage such as the AWS outage would be a significant ordeal. Balancing architecture and IT operations with the business needs is a struggle in the best of times. Ensuring that corporate assets are secured is an arduous task even when a cybersecurity solution is operating flawlessly. There isn’t much extra time (if any) in daily operations, so things can quickly feel overwhelming when there’s a major failure event. Some organizations use multi-region deployments, multi-cloud, or hybrid cloud strategies to limit the blast radius of outages like this one. Still, each of those strategies comes with its challenges.

How Carrier Neutrality Helps Enterprises Prepare for the Next Outage

At Cisco Umbrella, we understand customers’ and IT teams’ pain in these challenging scenarios. And while Umbrella wasn’t immune from either Amazon outage, nearly all customer-facing functionality was unaffected. This was possible because of our carrier-neutral and vendor-neutral architecture, which heavily utilizes colocation facilities.

Choosing a vendor-neutral or carrier-neutral colocation facility allows IT teams to harvest a variety of benefits, including having:

  • More alternative paths from more alternative carriers
  • A facility with more service providers can offer more data protection options
  • Better service performance options
  • Reduced costs due to greater competition at the data center level

Flexibility in business is very crucial today. Frequently, selecting a preferred data center provider, carrier, or both may seem attractive and straightforward. However, considering a carrier hotel as it applies to your operation and critical data protection can provide that additional agility your business may benefit from in future outages.

Cisco Umbrella – Built to Weather Carrier Outages

Cisco Umbrella Cloud Security runs on carrier-neutral facilities globally. What’s more, our use of the Cisco Anycast routing protocol ensures continuous cybersecurity services to enterprises and their business operations worldwide. This architecture is designed with our customers in mind and to help organizations improve resiliency, as it can keep companies protected around the clock. And since Cisco Umbrella continues to expand – we recently opened new data centers in Mexico and South Africa – companies can enjoy unparalleled service with minimal latency no matter where they are.

Want to see how Cisco Umbrella can protect your network? Schedule a free demo today!

See security in action

Let one of our experts show you how Cisco Umbrella can simplify your security and protect your users everywhere.

Schedule a demo

1 Synergy Research Group, Quarterly Cloud Market Leaps to $42B – Amazon, Microsoft & Google Pocket 63% of Dollars Spent. July 29, 2021.

For enterprises that rely on cloud services, [AWS] outages offer a clear lesson: Creating a diverse and fully redundant infrastructure requires having services built on carrier neutrality.

Tweet this quote

Additional Resources

  • Schedule a personalized demo

Suggested Blogs

  • Hitachi’s SASE: How Umbrella & Duo Delivered Identity and Security December 13, 2022 2 minute read
  • Why Using DNS for Protection Should Be Your First Line of Defense September 1, 2022 2 minute read
  • New Security for a World Where Everyone and Everything Are Connecting August 30, 2022 3 minute read

Share this blog

FacebookTweetLinkedIn

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

Footer Sections

What we make

  • Cloud Security Service
  • DNS-Layer Network Security
  • Secure Web Gateway
  • Security Packages

Who we are

  • Global Cloud Architecture
  • Cloud Network Status
  • Cloud Network Activity
  • OpenDNS is now Umbrella
  • Cisco Umbrella Blog

Learn more

  • Webinars
  • Careers
  • Support
  • Cisco Umbrella Live Demo
  • Contact Sales
Umbrella by Cisco
208.67.222.222+208.67.220.220
2620:119:35::35+2620:119:53::53
Sign up for a Free Trial
  • Cisco Online Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Sitemap

© 2023 Cisco Umbrella