Microsoft’s Azure virtual machine, cloud services down for many

On August 18, starting just before 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, users across the globe began reporting problems with Microsoft’s Azure virtual machines, web sites and other cloud services.

“Starting at 18 Aug 2014 17:49 UTC we are experiencing an interruption to Cloud Services and Virtual Machines in multiple regions,” noted Microsoft officials on the Azure staus page.