Apple's China iCloud data center hit by 'dire' COVID lockdown

The data center Apple uses for iCloud in China has barred employees from leaving for a week, because of a COVID lockdown.

Apple usually operates its own data centers worldwide, but a 2017 controversial law change in China required it to use a local company instead. That government-backed firm, now called Guizhou Cloud Big Data, has announced that it has been working under a "closed loop" system for the last week.

According to Bloomberg, China locked down areas of in almost all of Guiyang's ten districts, including where the data center is based.

"Faced with a dire situation, we need courageous people on the front lines," announced the company on a WeChat posting.

The posting also reportedly explained that the data center was now working on the lockdown "closed loop" system, where staff have to stay on the premises.

Apple is not the only business using this data center. Guizhou Cloud Big Data did not respond to questions about how its customers are being affected.

Since mid-2022, China's health authorities have been implementing severe lockdown procedures. They have successfully limited the spread of COVID, but in the process also affected over 100 of Apple's major suppliers.

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10 Comments

regurgitatedcoprolite

said about 1 year ago

Clearly, the Chinese government’s role in the whole co*id shitshow is to keep the fear going as long as possible.

Interesting how they’re the only country who had people dropping dead on the streets because of cv—you know, the video showing the man keeling over dead as a door nail, yet still conscious enough to put his arms out to break his fall.

torpedo9

said about 1 year ago

Of course their health authorities say they have successfully limited the spread of the virus. And that severe lockdowns are effective. Bribed or not, take what this totalitarian regime, our contemptuous global rival, says at face value.

Starkoman

said about 1 year ago

Anyone who says “Keep the fear going as long as possible”, in regard to the rapid spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus, clearly hasn’t lost anyone in their family to the horrors of Covid.

Sadly, some people — particularly those anti-mask/anti-vax/anti-safe distancing dimbos (particularly over in America) — are both ignorant and insensitive to the legitimate medical need to protect their loved ones (should they still have any who aren’t estranged or already disowned them), from the appalling misery of their unwarranted suffering or of those left behind in grief.

Had the Covid-19 deniers — in any country (but particularly in America) — been less irresponsible and therefore dangerous in the face of a viral contagion, they would not have lost one million four hundred thousand plus (1,400,000+ US), of their own fellow citizens.

As the rest of the world knows, China endured some of the worst of the novel Coronavirus when it first hit their country so badly in early 2020. It’s logical that the Chinese are extremely keen to introduce compulsory lockdowns early — and hard — to prevent a fresh outbreak spreading to the rest of the provinces.

It’s regrettable that some people, even today, prove themselves incapable of understanding the basic epidemiology of lethal viruses and have learned absolutely nothing about virology or spread prevention from the past two years.

Harder still to see them recklessly politicising a public health emergency on the ︎AppleInsider site where idiots rarely intrude.

To use an old Liverpool adage: “Sort yer head out, mate”.

OctoMonkey

said about 1 year ago

Starkoman said:

Anyone who says “Keep the fear going as long as possible”, in regard to the rapid spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus, clearly hasn’t lost anyone in their family to the horrors of Covid.

Sadly, some people — particularly those anti-mask/anti-vax/anti-safe distancing dimbos (particularly over in America) — are both ignorant and insensitive to the legitimate medical need to protect their loved ones (should they still have any who aren’t estranged or already disowned them), from the appalling misery of their unwarranted suffering or of those left behind in grief.

Had the Covid-19 deniers — in any country (but particularly in America) — been less irresponsible and therefore dangerous in the face of a viral contagion, they would not have lost one million four hundred thousand plus (1,400,000+ US), of their own fellow citizens.

As the rest of the world knows, China endured some of the worst of the novel Coronavirus when it first hit their country so badly in early 2020. It’s logical that the Chinese are extremely keen to introduce compulsory lockdowns early — and hard — to prevent a fresh outbreak spreading to the rest of the provinces.

It’s regrettable that some people, even today, prove themselves incapable of understanding the basic epidemiology of lethal viruses and have learned absolutely nothing about virology or spread prevention from the past two years.

Harder still to see them recklessly politicising a public health emergency on the ︎AppleInsider site where idiots rarely intrude.

To use an old Liverpool adage: “Sort yer head out, mate”.

WOW! Apparently kool-aid sales are going strong!

tyler82

said about 1 year ago

But Karen couldn't brunch in USA, so we are definitely the worst police state in the history of the universe, according to Karens and Darens throughout the (less developed, less civilized, less critically thinking, less educated) portions of this country.