Did you know? · No. 18 · Fun fact ·
About 3.6 million websites went offline after one data-centre fire
On 10 March 2021, a fire at OVHcloud’s Strasbourg site destroyed its SBG2 data centre. Netcraft reported that around 3.6 million websites across 464,000 distinct domains were taken offline. OVHcloud said all four data centres had to be powered down while firefighters worked, widening the disruption.
The lesson is not about blame. It is about recovery: an otherwise well-maintained site can still become unavailable after a serious physical incident at its hosting location. A backup stored only alongside your production site may share that risk. Keep recovery copies separate so you have a practical path to rebuild or move your site elsewhere. That separation matters even if your host offers its own backup option.
Try this on your site
This week, store one encrypted backup of your files and database in another region or with a separate provider. Restore it to a test location once, and note the steps and time required.
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Each fact is checked against the primary sources listed. Spotted an error? Email the Status Is UP team. Status Is UP helps owners improve their sites; it is not an uptime monitor. For live outage status, see Status Is Down.