The war in Ukraine is wreaking havoc on the tech industry in Russia. The economic sanctions and the exodus of companies have caused the country to be on the verge of running out of web space.
According to a report by the Kommersant news agency, Russia has two months left before it runs out of cloud space. The departure of service providers generated a crisis and local companies do not have enough data centers to meet the demand of the entire country.
Economic sanctions and the fall of the ruble prevent Russian companies from scaling their business. Due to this, the Ministry of Digital Transformation met with representatives of the technology companies and is considering taking control of the abandoned servers by Western companies.
To counter Washington's offensive, Vladimir Putin's administration imposed export restrictions. This ensures that foreign companies cannot take their servers with them once they leave Russia.
The authorities are aware that the situation could get complicated and that they must take extraordinary measures.
Russia would limit the transmission of music and videos
The appropriation of Western equipment is just a strategy proposed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation. It also addresses the option of buying all the storage available in national data centers, or Internet providers limiting the transmission of multimedia files.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation carried out an inventory in the data centers to guarantee the operation of essential services. A government spokesman mentioned that there is no critical risk of storage shortage and that they are looking at how much power will be released once Western companies leave Russia.
Experts assure that the entertainment industry will be the first to feel the effects of the crisis. Access to music, video on-demand and online video games will be reduced. Other government programs, such as smart city or security cameras, would have to be adjusted as they have a high data consumption.
A close source commented to the news agency that the situation is extremely serious. “Nobody expected this, but the existing capabilities of the public sector will be enough for a maximum of a month and a half of work,” he said.
China would be the answer, but not will commit
Credit: Wikimedia Although China is the ideal candidate to provide technology to Russia, the reality is different. The prices of Chinese components and computer equipment multiplied, while Huawei suspended the sale of products until March 26.
The Asian giant will not compromise its economy by supporting Russia. Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister, told his Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Albares, that they are not part of the crisis and that they do not want to be affected by Western sanctions. The call between the two ministers took place within the framework of a possible reprimand to China if it decides to support Russia. The United States has threatened Beijing with possible sanctions if it sides with Putin and sends any kind of aid.
Although China has not condemned the Russian invasion, it remains out of the conflict and supports talks to end the war.
