Is the internet going down? Undersea sub-cables have just broken...

[kpete]

Is the internet going down? Undersea sub-cables have just broken...

Internetcables

Breaking news: something's happening to the internet, right now. We're just not quite sure what.

Interoute, the internet networks company, reports that three of the four internet sub-cables that run from Asia to North America have been damaged.

These carry more than 75 per cent of traffic between the Middle East, Europe and America. It's hard to gather what this actually means - is it that the internet is down or (more likely) significantly slower than usual between the Middle East and America? (If you're reading this, let's face it, the internet has not shut down altogether)

But, according to the company, there is a domino effect taking place. Interoute says it is:

hearing that offices have lost their entire private network connectivity. As a result, users are unable to do their daily job over the internet and are turning to their mobile phones to communicate across the globe. This is having a knock on effect on the domestic voice networks, which are getting a surge of calls needing to be routed internationally. These calls need to be routed onto international gateways that pass voice traffic in longer directions around the world to avoid the cable breaks – causing more quality issues and risk more call failures, in turn causing more calls to be placed and increasing the pressure on local voice networks.

What (I think) this means is that companies' private internet services have gone down. So, if they can get access, they have had to go on the public internet and mobile phones, like the rest of us average joes, to get their work done. That results in more strain on mobile phone networks, which means more phone calls go down and the internet becomes slower.

more at:
http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2008/12/is-the-internet.html

[panader0]

1. I'm on a rural dial-up with a POS computer

Mine couldn't get much slower.

[Obamanaut]

13. Me too. Mine is showing 37 kbs right now, It's been as low as 4 nt

[MrCoffee]

2. MSN says it was three cables in the Med, and it's mostly affecting Egypt

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28313432/

CAIRO, Egypt - Egypt's communications ministry says Internet cables in the Mediterranean Sea have been cut, causing massive Internet outages.

The ministry says three Internet cables running through the Mediterranean Sea were cut Friday morning. Throughout the country the Internet is almost completely down or working sporadically.

The ministry says it will take "several days" for cables to be repaired and is trying to switch Egypt's Internet to an alternative route.

[patrice]

3. I wonder what's going on in my old job right now.

Tech Writer for network ops at Sprint WHQ.

[htuttle]

4. Sounds like a bad day to be outsourced...

...Especially if you are trying to deal with medical services like radiology.

[shraby]

5. This is the second time cables have been cut.

About a year ago the same thing happened. Methinks there is a back-story to this.

[MADem]

8. I remember that. I think you may be on to something. NT

[chucktaylor]

9. As I remember, 2 of the cables in Feb. '08 were from ships that has anchored illegally.

I believe they were identified and fined. The third was severed by an abandoned anchor from an unknown ship.

[anigbrowl]

10. It was in February, and resulted from a ship dragging its anchor

Shit happens. I'm not seeing any pattern here so far.

[Xithras]

14. A lot of it has to do with the way they're laid.

The bottom of the ocean is not flat, but is instead covered with canyons that make the Grand Canyon look small and mountain ranges that rival the Himalayas for sheerness and height. In spite of that, we largely run our undersea cables with little thought of what's down there. The ship cruises along, the cable is dropped off the back end, and nobody much cares if it has to loop over the top of a 10000 foot undersea mountain or span a thousand foot deep gorge. You end up with cables that are precariously placed, and it doesn't take much to snap those. One earthquake, small landslide, or errant anchor is all it takes to cut off communications for millions.

[maxsolomon]

6. O NOEZ ITS THE DARK AGES AGAIN!

imagine a solid month without the net & cell phones. all those lonely fax machines & land lines would get a work out. tweens would discover that there's an entire world outside their keyboards. i might be good for us.

[Javaman]

7. Didn't this happen earlier this year as well? nt

[Posteritatis]

19. Fiber-seeking anchors, like fiber-seeking backhoes, are annoyingly common (nt)

[Jamastiene]

11. OH SHIT! Noooooooo!

:yoiks: :scared: :tinfoilhat: :(

[MazeRat7]

12. Use the "Internet Traffic Report" (link inside) for a high level view of global traffic.

Looks like there is something minor happening, but not that far beyond the bounds of normal. Might be worth watching for a while.

http://www.internettrafficreport.com/


Peace,
MZr7

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. The Kraken Wakes!

http://images.forbiddenplanet.com.nyud.net:8080/image/detail/1518047d.jpg

It'll be a rise in sea level next, mark my words.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. AGAIN??????

Ok, reaching for the tinfoil hat

And intranets going down makes NO SENSE

[RJ Connors]

17. It does if the M.E. goes completly dark

As some articles are reporting could happen. Particularly with all the noise that Israel has been making about Iran lately.

[cali]

18. take off the tinfoil hat

and read the posts upthread that explain why this happens. No one is purposely cutting the cables. Just how on earth would Israel benefit from internet disruption?

[RJ Connors]

20. I am not relying on the upthreads

But the various assorted articles I have read which have all stated that it is unknown how the cables got broken. And how does disabling communications benefit Israel? I,m guessing that you don't have any military service in your background, eh?

[Greyhound]

21. Not likely, the internet was designed from the beginning to be virtually indestructible.

If any connections are whole, traffic will route around to get to it's destination.