Microsoft Continues Expanding Cloud Data Center Empire

Microsoft announced another round of expansion of its already widespread global cloud data center footprint.

The company announced two new cloud regions specifically to provide services to the US Department of Defense. A cloud region usually consists of one or more data centers.

The WHIR, our sister site, has the full story:

Microsoft Azure Beefs Up Government Cloud Credentials

Microsoft also launched its new cloud region in Germany, which is hosted by its competitor Deutsche Telekom. DT is acting as a “data trustee,” a scheme devised to avoid a repeat of the scenario Microsoft is facing with its Dublin, Ireland, data center.

The company has been locked in a legal battle with the US government over one user’s personal data stored in the Dublin facility. The government has ordered Microsoft to turn over the data, because it belongs to a person under criminal investigation, but the company is maintaining that the government’s jurisdiction does not extend to a data center overseas.

Handing control of user data to a non-US company like DT is a way to avoid this situation altogether.

Read more on our sister site, Windows IT Pro:

Microsoft Opens up Azure Cloud in Germany Even It Can't Access Easily