Windows Azure Storage experienced a worldwide outage impacting HTTPS traffic due to an expired SSL certificate.  HTTP traffic was unaffected but the event impacted a number of Windows Azure services that are dependent on Storage.  We executed the repair steps to update the SSL certificate on the impacted clusters and availability was restored to >99% worldwide by 1:00 AM PST on February 23.  At 8:00 PM PST on February 23, we completed the restoration effort and confirmed full availability worldwide. Given the scope of the outage, we will proactively provide credits to impacted customers in accordance with our SLA. The credit will be reflected on a subsequent invoice.  Our teams are also working hard on a full root cause analysis (RCA), including steps to help prevent any future reoccurrence.  The RCA will be posted on this blog as soon as it is available.  We sincerely apologize for the interruption and any issues it has caused.

Steven Martin
General Manager
Windows Azure Business & Operations