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The Microsoft Azure Outage Shows the Harsh Reality of Cloud Failures

The Microsoft Azure Outage Shows the Harsh Reality of Cloud Failures

Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, its widely used 365 services, Xbox, and Minecraft started suffering outages at roughly noon Eastern time on Wednesday, the result of what Microsoft said was “an inadvertent configuration change.” The incident—which marks the second major cloud provider outage in less than two weeks—highlights the instability of an internet built largely on infrastructure run by a few tech giants.

Microsoft’s problems specifically originated from Azure’s Front Door content delivery network and emerged just hours before Microsoft’s scheduled earnings announcement. The company website, including its investor relations page, was still down on Wednesday afternoon, and the Azure status page where Microsoft provides updates was having intermittent issues as well.

Microsoft described in status updates on Wednesday that it went through a process of sequentially rolling back recent versions of its environment until it could pinpoint the “last known good” configuration. At 3:01 pm ET, the company said it had identified and pushed this stable configuration and that “customers may begin to see initial signs of recovery. We are currently recovering nodes and routing traffic through healthy nodes.”

A Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement, “We are working to address an issue affecting Azure Front Door that is impacting the availability of some services. Customers should continue to check their Service Health Alerts.” The company did not immediately respond to questions from WIRED about the nature of the configuration change that caused the outage.

In addition to occurring on Microsoft’s earnings day, the outage comes nine days after Azure rival Amazon Web Services suffered a massive outage that impacted sites and services around the world. Major cloud providers, often called “hyperscalers,” standardize and often improve baseline security and reliability for their customers, but problems and outages can cause them to become single points of failure for large populations of critical digital services

“Even Azure’s outage status page is down,” says Davi Ottenheimer, a longtime security operations and compliance manager and a vice president at the data infrastructure company Inrupt. “Another configuration change error—we are in the age of integrity breach more so now than ever.”

Azure blocked customers from making configuration changes to their instances while it worked to address the issue. The company said in a status update at 3:22 pm ET that it expects “full mitigation” of the situation by 7:20 pm ET.

“Organizations may think they’re insulated by their choice of cloud provider, but dependencies run deeper,” says Munish Walther-Puri, an adjunct faculty member at IANS Research and the former director of cyber risk for the city of New York. “When key partners rely on other hyperscalers, exposure multiplies. As AI becomes the next layer of critical infrastructure, these outages demonstrate the brittleness of our digital backbone.”

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#Microsoft #Azure #Outage #Shows #Harsh #Reality #Cloud #Failures

TL;DR: Live stream the 2026 NRL for free on 9Now. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.


There are few other sports that can compete with rugby league when it comes to physicality and skill. It’s clever handling and outrageous trickery combined with absolute brutality, and that’s why we all love it.

And if you’re looking for all of that and more on a weekly basis, you should check out the NRL. It’s an electric competition featuring some of the best players and teams in the world. We’re definitely not knocking what you get in the Northern Hemisphere, but there’s something special about the National Rugby League. It feels like something wild happens every week.

Mashable Deals

By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

If you want to watch the 2026 NRL for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is the NRL?

The National Rugby League (NRL) is a professional rugby league competition in Australasia, including clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, and New Zealand.

Each team plays 24 matches in the regular season, with the first-placed team at the end awarded the minor premiership. This is followed by a finals series contested between the eight highest-placed teams from the regular season, culminating in the NRL Grand Final.

The defending champions are the Brisbane Broncos.

When is the 2026 NRL?

The 2026 NRL season is the 119th edition of professional rugby league in Australia and the 29th season run by the National Rugby League. This season runs from Feb. 28 to Sept. 5.

How to watch the 2026 NRL for free

Select fixtures from the 2026 NRL season are available to live stream for free on 9Now.

9Now is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can unblock free live streams of the NRL from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2026 NRL from anywhere in the world by following these simple steps:

  1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

  2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

  3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia

  4. Visit 9Now

  5. Live stream the 2026 NRL for free from anywhere in the world

$12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee)

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch the 2026 NRL without actually spending anything. This clearly isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select NRL fixtures before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming sites from around the world, you will need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for live streaming sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for 9Now?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on 9Now, for a number of reasons:

  • Servers in 105 countries including Australia

  • Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

  • Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

  • Fast connection speeds

  • Up to 10 simultaneous connections

  • 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream the 2026 NRL for free with ExpressVPN.

#NRL #livestream #watch #National #Rugby #League #free">NRL 2026 livestream: How to watch National Rugby League for free
                                                            TL;DR: Live stream the 2026 NRL for free on 9Now. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.There are few other sports that can compete with rugby league when it comes to physicality and skill. It’s clever handling and outrageous trickery combined with absolute brutality, and that’s why we all love it. And if you’re looking for all of that and more on a weekly basis, you should check out the NRL. It’s an electric competition featuring some of the best players and teams in the world. We’re definitely not knocking what you get in the Northern Hemisphere, but there’s something special about the National Rugby League. It feels like something wild happens every week.

    Mashable Deals
        
            
            
            
            
            
                By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
            
        
    

If you want to watch the 2026 NRL for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.What is the NRL?The National Rugby League (NRL) is a professional rugby league competition in Australasia, including clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, and New Zealand.Each team plays 24 matches in the regular season, with the first-placed team at the end awarded the minor premiership. This is followed by a finals series contested between the eight highest-placed teams from the regular season, culminating in the NRL Grand Final.The defending champions are the Brisbane Broncos.
        
            Mashable Top Stories
        
        
    
When is the 2026 NRL?The 2026 NRL season is the 119th edition of professional rugby league in Australia and the 29th season run by the National Rugby League. This season runs from Feb. 28 to Sept. 5.How to watch the 2026 NRL for freeSelect fixtures from the 2026 NRL season are available to live stream for free on 9Now. 9Now is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can unblock free live streams of the NRL from anywhere in the world.Live stream the 2026 NRL from anywhere in the world by following these simple steps:Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)Open up the app and connect to a server in AustraliaVisit 9NowLive stream the 2026 NRL for free from anywhere in the world
    
    
    
        
                                        
                                                    .99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) 
                    
        
    

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch the 2026 NRL without actually spending anything. This clearly isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select NRL fixtures before recovering your investment.If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming sites from around the world, you will need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for live streaming sport is on sale for a limited time.What is the best VPN for 9Now?ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on 9Now, for a number of reasons:Servers in 105 countries including AustraliaEasy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and moreStrict no-logging policy so your data is always secureFast connection speedsUp to 10 simultaneous connections30-day money-back guaranteeA two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for .40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just .99 (with money-back guarantee).Live stream the 2026 NRL for free with ExpressVPN.

                    
                                            
                            
                        
                                    #NRL #livestream #watch #National #Rugby #League #free

9Now. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.


There are few other sports that can compete with rugby league when it comes to physicality and skill. It’s clever handling and outrageous trickery combined with absolute brutality, and that’s why we all love it.

And if you’re looking for all of that and more on a weekly basis, you should check out the NRL. It’s an electric competition featuring some of the best players and teams in the world. We’re definitely not knocking what you get in the Northern Hemisphere, but there’s something special about the National Rugby League. It feels like something wild happens every week.

Mashable Deals

By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

If you want to watch the 2026 NRL for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is the NRL?

The National Rugby League (NRL) is a professional rugby league competition in Australasia, including clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, and New Zealand.

Each team plays 24 matches in the regular season, with the first-placed team at the end awarded the minor premiership. This is followed by a finals series contested between the eight highest-placed teams from the regular season, culminating in the NRL Grand Final.

The defending champions are the Brisbane Broncos.

When is the 2026 NRL?

The 2026 NRL season is the 119th edition of professional rugby league in Australia and the 29th season run by the National Rugby League. This season runs from Feb. 28 to Sept. 5.

How to watch the 2026 NRL for free

Select fixtures from the 2026 NRL season are available to live stream for free on 9Now.

9Now is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can unblock free live streams of the NRL from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2026 NRL from anywhere in the world by following these simple steps:

  1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

  2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

  3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia

  4. Visit 9Now

  5. Live stream the 2026 NRL for free from anywhere in the world

$12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee)

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch the 2026 NRL without actually spending anything. This clearly isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select NRL fixtures before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming sites from around the world, you will need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for live streaming sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for 9Now?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on 9Now, for a number of reasons:

  • Servers in 105 countries including Australia

  • Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

  • Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

  • Fast connection speeds

  • Up to 10 simultaneous connections

  • 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream the 2026 NRL for free with ExpressVPN.

#NRL #livestream #watch #National #Rugby #League #free">NRL 2026 livestream: How to watch National Rugby League for free

TL;DR: Live stream the 2026 NRL for free on 9Now. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.


There are few other sports that can compete with rugby league when it comes to physicality and skill. It’s clever handling and outrageous trickery combined with absolute brutality, and that’s why we all love it.

And if you’re looking for all of that and more on a weekly basis, you should check out the NRL. It’s an electric competition featuring some of the best players and teams in the world. We’re definitely not knocking what you get in the Northern Hemisphere, but there’s something special about the National Rugby League. It feels like something wild happens every week.

Mashable Deals

By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

If you want to watch the 2026 NRL for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is the NRL?

The National Rugby League (NRL) is a professional rugby league competition in Australasia, including clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, and New Zealand.

Each team plays 24 matches in the regular season, with the first-placed team at the end awarded the minor premiership. This is followed by a finals series contested between the eight highest-placed teams from the regular season, culminating in the NRL Grand Final.

The defending champions are the Brisbane Broncos.

When is the 2026 NRL?

The 2026 NRL season is the 119th edition of professional rugby league in Australia and the 29th season run by the National Rugby League. This season runs from Feb. 28 to Sept. 5.

How to watch the 2026 NRL for free

Select fixtures from the 2026 NRL season are available to live stream for free on 9Now.

9Now is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can unblock free live streams of the NRL from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2026 NRL from anywhere in the world by following these simple steps:

  1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

  2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

  3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia

  4. Visit 9Now

  5. Live stream the 2026 NRL for free from anywhere in the world

$12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee)

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch the 2026 NRL without actually spending anything. This clearly isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select NRL fixtures before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming sites from around the world, you will need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for live streaming sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for 9Now?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on 9Now, for a number of reasons:

  • Servers in 105 countries including Australia

  • Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

  • Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

  • Fast connection speeds

  • Up to 10 simultaneous connections

  • 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream the 2026 NRL for free with ExpressVPN.

#NRL #livestream #watch #National #Rugby #League #free

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