Internet - Around the World

[SARGE]

I know we have backbones in the States. I was wondering how we get to a site overseas. Is there a physical cable in the ocean, or is it by satellite? Either way, who owns and maintains it? If it lays at bottom of ocean and there is a physical problem, how in the world do they fix it? Also, it presents a security issue if some nut decided to cut it.

[christo418]

If you would like to see this in action graphically, you could go to
http://www.neoworx.com/download/default.asp
and get the freeware utility, and then try going to your favorite taiwanese motherboard manufacturer , it's kinda neat to see this in motion.

[Statica]

Both. However most of communications do go through submarine cables. Though this is potentially risky, (for example a couple of years back loads of customers in Australia got cut off because of a ship accidentally cutting one of the SEAMEWE cables), it is also the most cost effective and the broadest pipe available. Maritime charts do post no-trawling-no-anchors zones, and these are usually to protect these cables.

[Statica]

Check out:
http://www.primustel.com/docs/csmap.html for primus' network maps for Voice/Data/ ATMs etc.

[courto]

From what I have read, in Australia, we are generally connected by undersea cable. My ISP, Telstra, seems to suffer greatly whenever one of these cables is cut, sometimes it takes a week for the repair ship to arrive and get the cable repaired. How often are these cables cut? Maybe about 3 or 4 times over the last year or so, but the availability of alternate traffic routes has improved, reducing the impact on users.

[juppy]

I always wondered how they connected to the rest of the world (I just always figured it was by satellite or something ).

Statica--nice link to the Primus network map...pretty cool.

[doctorgonzo]

Sarge, while security may not be as much of a problem with optical fiber, when the cables were primarily copper wiring security was a concern. I remember watching a PBS special that told how the U.S. put a device next to a Soviet undersea cable that carried military information. The device listened in on the traffic, kind of like an early TEMPEST attack. Of course, when the Soviets looked at the cable, they didn't see any tampering. The U.S. was able to break the Soviet military's code with this.