Featured Image Credit: VCG / Contributor / Europa Press News / Contributor / Getty
The internet is one of those pieces of technology that is so vast and complex, but also so important to the day-to-day running of our lives, that it's actually really hard to conceptualize how it works on a practical level.
We all know the jokes about the internet basically being a series of pipes and wires, and on a fundamental level that's not entirely untrue, but as things are becoming increasingly wireless, it can feel like something of an abstract concept.
It's one thing to consider how the internet functions within a country or on a continent, but quite how it works between oceans is a far more unfathomable question unless you get help.
Thankfully, the YouTube channel Tech Vision uploaded a helpful explainer video titled 'How The Internet Travels Across Oceans' back in late 2021, and it's still just as useful today.
The video explains how there's a simply huge network of nearly 500 active sub-sea cables carrying the internet around the globe.
Advert
Some of these are really short and link countries over a few hundred miles, while others span thousands of miles over huge oceans.
There are apparently 1.5 million kilometers of this cabling around the world, and it's pretty expensive to expand this network.
The cables are thick and chunky, with much of that bulk being designed to effectively protect the small fibre-optic section in the middle from any pressure or puncture risks.
The newer the cable, the more capacity it can handle, but the flow of data is controlled by using more than one wavelength at the same time, sending amazing arrays of data broadcasts.
Occasional repeaters act as amplifiers to speed the data on without any lag, and it's really important that the routes are planned carefully to avoid obstacles.
These might include volcanic activity, earthquakes or heavy fishing, all of which could harm the cabling.
The video shows how accidents can happen, though, especially when earthquakes or hurricanes hit the area where cables are situated.
On the coastline, these cables tend to be buried and armored to avoid any risk of tampering or damage - although there are videos showing that a shark has occasionally had a go at biting through at least one of these.
Countries are concerned to keep their cabling safe, too, with the knowledge that sabotage could allow foreign powers to get a lot of control over web access or to surveil huge amounts of information.
Many of these cables are owned by big tech companies, which are incentivized to see the network expanded in order to get quicker connectivity.
So, the network is clearly pretty amazing - and in just a few minutes this video will definitely leave you knowing more, as demonstrated by the comments under it.
One person who wrote: "It boggles the mind that 'small' cables laid hundreds of feet on the sea floor can carry such vast amounts of data. That such cables can even endure the distance, and harsh environment of currents, saltwater, and apparently tech hungry sharks is a testimony to the engineers and builders."
