12 Nov THE WORLD WIDE WEB
THE WORLD WIDE WEB/SUBMARINE CABLING
Have you ever wondered how your phone call or e-mail to your loved ones makes it around the world? Well if you have, I have the answer for you.
Almost 95 percent of the internet that we use today is provided via underwater cables in our world’s oceans. There are over a half a million miles of 2 inch thick cables that provide the connection between countries. There are 285 cables on the sea floors of which 263 of these cables are in use, and the remainders are called dark cable, that will be put into service at a later date.
The cable is laid in the sea bed between land-based stations. It is laid by specifically designed ships that carry thousands of miles of coiled cable in their holds and lay it as it travels across the ocean.
The cables are owned by service providers, but websites such as Facebook, Google are part of consortiums that own the cable as well.
Here is a picture of a cable in layers: 1. Polyethylene, 2. Mylar Tape, 3. Stranded steel wires, 4. Aluminum water barrier, 5. Polycarbonate, 6. Copper and aluminum tube, 7. Petroleum Jelly, 8. Optical fibers.
I don’t know about you, but I found it fascinating that almost all web traffic and phone calls in the world goes over these 285 cables in the ocean.
Here is a link to the real story.