Phoenix data center outage disrupts Namecheap, Hosting.com

A cooling failure at a Phoenix data center has disrupted services for multiple hosting providers, including Namecheap and Hosting.com, demonstrating how infrastructure dependencies can amplify a single facility issue into widespread service interruptions. The incident, which began on 13 August 2026, originated at a RadiusDC-operated facility where phoenixNAP is a tenant, following utility disturbances linked to overnight storms. Elevated temperatures triggered protective measures, leading to service unavailability across hosting, email, and management systems for affected providers.

What happened

The outage stemmed from a cooling system failure at RadiusDC’s Phoenix data center, which hosts infrastructure for several large hosting companies. According to status updates, multiple utility disturbances during overnight storms contributed to the failure, causing temperatures in the facility to rise. RadiusDC technicians restored one chiller and deployed temporary cooling equipment, but recovery efforts extended into the following day as engineers worked to stabilize the environment.

For Namecheap, the disruption affected a broad range of services, including shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, EasyWP, private email, and DNS management. The company’s support helpdesk was also impacted, forcing customers to use alternative Microsoft Teams channels for assistance. Hosting.com reported similar issues, with servers at its Phoenix location remaining unavailable while engineers coordinated with the data center operator to restore normal operations.

Why the outage spread

The incident highlights how shared infrastructure dependencies can turn a localized failure into a multi-provider disruption. While Namecheap and Hosting.com operate separate hosting environments, both rely on the same physical facility for critical infrastructure. When cooling systems failed, the impact extended beyond individual servers to include management systems, support tools, and operational controls—components often assumed to be redundant but frequently concentrated in the same physical location.

Namecheap’s status updates noted that while DNS resolution remained available, DNS management systems were affected, illustrating how operational tooling can become a single point of failure. The company’s support infrastructure was also disrupted, forcing customers to use alternative communication channels. This pattern underscores a broader challenge for hosting providers: geographic redundancy for customer workloads offers limited protection if internal systems remain tied to a single facility.

Recovery and next steps

RadiusDC’s response focused on restoring cooling capacity before attempting to bring systems back online. Technicians prioritized stabilizing temperatures, first by reactivating one chiller and later deploying temporary cooling equipment. Once conditions improved, providers began staged restorations, with Namecheap indicating that physical networking would return before virtual infrastructure and customer services.

For hosting customers, the outage serves as a reminder to evaluate not just where production workloads are hosted but also where management, support, and backup systems reside. Businesses relying on a single provider’s internal redundancy may find that operational dependencies—such as DNS control, email delivery, or support access—are just as vulnerable as the hosted services themselves. Providers, meanwhile, face questions about how to distribute internal systems across multiple failure domains to prevent cascading disruptions.

The incident also raises operational questions for RadiusDC, which recently acquired the Phoenix facility from phoenixNAP. The outage occurred early in this new operational relationship, putting scrutiny on the facility’s cooling redundancy and its resilience to utility disturbances. While the exact cause of the cooling failure remains unclear, the event will likely prompt reviews of mechanical infrastructure and contingency planning for similar scenarios.