Cyclone Michaung: State's data centres struggle to weather heavy storm

Annavilaas in Jebel Ali Village, Dubai, is known throughout West Asia for its Indian delicacies. However, on December 5, visitors to the restaurant received an unexpected message from the managers: the hotel was unable to generate bills that day. The reason was also unusual: Cyclone Michaung had hit the coasts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, causing the server in Chennai to fail due to flooding.

When Business Standard called, the restaurant informed us that the problem had been resolved within hours on Tuesday evening. However, a cyclone in Chennai showing its colors in Dubai is an example of how the state is quickly becoming a data center hub. Chennai has major data center players such as NTT, CtrlS and