CME Data Center Operator Acknowledges Operational Misconduct, Leading to Last Week's Trading Halt

BlockBeats News, December 7th, last Friday, the world's second-largest derivatives exchange – CME Group, experienced a trading halt of over 10 hours across multiple markets due to a data center outage. The data center operator CyrusOne confirmed this Saturday that the significant outage was caused by human error.

A CyrusOne spokesperson stated that on-site staff and contractors at the Aurora, Illinois data center failed to properly drain the cooling tower ahead of frigid weather, causing the cooling system to ice up and operate at an overpressure, leading to uncontrolled equipment temperatures. Although CyrusOne claimed to have taken comprehensive and decisive measures to restore the cooling system, CME noted in a statement that the initial remediation efforts by the data center exacerbated the issue, ultimately resulting in the failure of multiple cooling units.

This incident highlights CME's high reliance risk on a single data center. The facility was originally owned by CME and was sold to CyrusOne in 2016, with a 15-year leaseback agreement. CME stated on Saturday that they are fully aware of the severe impact this event has had on their global customers. (Golden Finance)