Azure Data Factory many activities timeout

The issue resolved itself after about more than an hour. Things are back to normal now. I encountered this about 3-4 times a year, which is pretty annoying.

Hi Brian Toan,
Thanks for reaching out. I understand how frustrating it is to see pipelines sitting in a Queued state and eventually timing out across Script, Web, and Azure Function activities.

From your description, this pattern usually indicates that Azure Data Factory is not getting enough available compute from the Integration Runtime (IR) at the time the pipelines are triggered. When runs stay queued for a long time, they are typically waiting for IR resources to free up. By the time the activity actually starts, it may already be close to or beyond its timeout window, which explains why multiple activity types are failing.

The first thing I’d recommend is checking the Integration Runtime being used. If you are on Azure IR, look at whether the allocated compute (DIUs or cores) is being fully utilized during that time. If you are using a self-hosted IR, please verify that all nodes are online, healthy, and not constrained on CPU or memory. Scaling up the IR or reducing parallel executions often helps relieve the queue.

It’s also worth reviewing how many pipelines are running concurrently. A sudden spike in parallel runs or aggressive trigger schedules can saturate the IR and cause new runs to wait. Adjusting concurrency or staggering triggers can significantly reduce queue time.

Since Web and Azure Function activities are also timing out, I’d suggest validating outbound connectivity from the IR as well. Any firewall, DNS, or network restriction affecting access to those endpoints can contribute to delays or failures once the activity begins.

You can refer to the following Microsoft documentation for more details and guidance: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/data-factory/concepts-integration-runtime

https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/data-factory/monitor-troubleshoot-pipelines

https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/data-factory/self-hosted-integration-runtime-troubleshoot-guide

If the issue continues after these checks, feel free to share a pipeline run ID, region, IR type, and approximate time of occurrence. With those details, we can look deeper into the backend and assist further.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction.