Remember the strong address in the southern waters of Taiwan, China in 2007, which led to the interruption of the U.S.-China submarine cable "Asia-Pacific No. 1", "Asia-Pacific No. 2" submarine cable, the Asia-Europe submarine cable, and many other international submarine communication cables, resulting in Internet users unable to log on to MSN?
On land we can see the Internet infrastructure is only the tip of the iceberg, there are countless fiber optic cables laid on the cold sea floor, forming the world's Internet to move a hair and the whole body of the super meridian, and carries 99% of the international data.
The laying of submarine fiber optic cable long time price high
Submarine fiber optic cable is laid by laying vessels, shallow water fiber optic cable is buried under the seabed with the help of high-pressure water jets, and deep water areas require plow-like equipment to dig the trench.
The diameter of the fiber optic cable laid in shallow waters is comparable to that of a can of soda, and the diameter of the cable in deep waters is about the same as a magic marker.
This is because the number of fiber optic cables laid below 8,000 feet (about 2,440 meters) of the seafloor is small, and they are subject to little outside influence and do not need to use much-galvanized shielding wire.
Submarine fiber optic cable laying
The cost of laying submarine fiber optic cable depends on the total length, depth, and destination of the cable.
The length of submarine fiber optic cable can reach hundreds of thousands of miles, and the depth of some can reach the height of Mount Everest, so the cost of laying a transoceanic fiber optic cable can reach hundreds of millions of dollars.
Because the cable has to cross the flat surface of the seafloor, it also has to avoid coral reefs, shipwrecks, fish habitats, and other ecological habitats and common obstacles.
It also requires a topographic survey of the seafloor before laying, which makes the laying of submarine fiber optic cables a lengthy project.
Sharks like to rip fiber optic cables
Although we have not heard that sharks have the habit of sharpening their teeth, it is an indisputable fact that they tear fiber optic cables.
Some say it has to do with the electromagnetic field of the fiber optic cable (optical fiber also has a magnetic field?) Some say it has to do with the electromagnetic field of the cable (fiber optics have a magnetic field?), but maybe it's just curiosity.
The shark's bite can sometimes disrupt Internet communications; after all, it's not hard to bite through fiber optics with a mouth that big.
To solve this problem, companies such as Google have taken protective measures for their fiber optic cables - using cable cladding made of Keraf, the same material used to make bulletproof vests.
Submarine fiber optic cable is also very vulnerable
When constructing on land, you must pay attention to whether there is a fiber optic cable laid underground, or the sign "fiber optic cable is broken, the loss of millions of dollars, according to the law," is not for show.
Last year, WeChat has a serious communication failure because of digging out the fiber optic cable caused.
Although submarine fiber optic cable does not have to worry about the destruction of construction machinery, vulnerable to biological (sharks), anchors, fishing trawlers, and natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.).
Ironically, the melting of the ice cap due to climate change has made it possible to lay a fiber optic cable through the Arctic, linking Tokyo and London, as long as there is strong funding.
Submarine cables have been laid for exactly 160 years
The first transoceanic telegraph cable (note the cable) was laid in 1854, connecting Newfoundland and Ireland.
It took four years to complete the submarine cable and send the first telegram.
During those four years, much happened in the world as we know it: Charles Dickens was still writing novels, Walt Whitman published Leaves of Grass, Dallas officially became part of Texas, and U.S. Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln delivered his "House Divided" speech.
Submarine fiber optic cables are "favored" by intelligence agencies
Back during the Cold War, U.S. submarines discovered a cable connecting two main naval bases and installed a huge bug that sent back information collected once a month in the famous "Ivy Bell" operation.
With the advent of fiber-optic communications, it was considered the most secure way to communicate because the light waves were transmitted inside the closed medium of the fiber, making it difficult to leak out of the fiber.
But now, tapping submarine fiber optic cables has become a "standard operation" for intelligence agencies.
U.S. Nuclear Submarine Capable of Tapping Fiber Optic Cables
In the mid-1990s the NSA conducted its first eavesdropping experiment.
In this experiment, U.S. agents dived into the ocean floor in a specially designed spy submarine, and through special means, ripped a section of submarine fiber optic cable into the submarine's special working chamber and successfully cut it open.
The move was undetected by the fiber optic cable operator, signaling that the U.S. had technically achieved eavesdropping on the submarine fiber optic cable, and fiber optic communications became less secure.
In addition, the U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarine "Jimmy Carter" also can eavesdrop on submarine fiber optic cables.
Many governments plan fiber optic cable "bypass" the United States
The United States not only has a huge advantage in electronic espionage.
And after the "Prismgate" incident, many countries learned that U.S. intelligence agencies are intercepting foreign data to a very bad degree.
Add to that the fact that U.S. scientists, engineers, and businesses have played a major role in inventing and building the global communications infrastructure.
As a result, some countries are reconsidering the planning and construction of their Internet infrastructure to make it less difficult for Americans to conduct eavesdropping.
Brazil, for example, plans to lay a communications fiber optic cable to Portugal that not only bypasses the United States but also deliberately excludes U.S. companies from the plan.
Submarine fiber optic cable is more cost-effective than satellite communication
Many people believe that using satellites to connect to the Internet is a more desirable approach than submarine fiber optic cable. But signals from satellites take longer to travel through space, and bandwidth is relatively low and precious.
Antarctica, for example, is currently the only continent without a physical line to the Internet, so the vast amount of data generated by very important climate research can only be transmitted by satellite.
The fiber optic cable can transmit data at 99.7% of the speed of light, and bandwidth is a no-brainer.
PS: The data generated by Antarctic research stations now far exceeds the data transmitted via satellite.
Paralyze the Internet cut off the submarine fiber optic cable can
First of all, let's look at the basic steps of tapping the fiber optic: first of all, the need to tap the fiber into a device is properly bent.
Then the light refracted from the fiber is picked up by an optical detection device in the device and sent to a photoelectric conversion device.
Finally, the optical conversion device converts the optical signal into an electrical signal and transmits the data to a computer via an Ethernet cable.
Whether the submarine cable is for "surgical" eavesdropping or cuts it off is not an easy task, because for security reasons each fiber optic cable has thousands of volts of lethal voltage. But such damage is not impossible, in 2013, a group of guys in diving suits deliberately cut the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 fiber optic cable located in the northern part of Alexandria port. The fiber optic cable is 12,500 miles long (about 20,000 kilometers) and connects three continents. After the cut, Egypt's Internet speed instantly dropped by 60%, but it is not known whether divers were casualties.
Submarine fiber optic cables are difficult to repair
Destroying a submarine fiber optic cable is a very easy thing, but repairing a section of submarine fiber optic cable is not so easy.
When the submarine cable is broken, a professional repair ship will rush to the scene.
If the cable is located in shallow water, robots can be dispatched to the water, the cable will be towed to the surface.
If it is 6500 feet (about 1980 meters) or more deep sea area, the repair ship will use a specially manufactured grappling hook to grab the fiber optic cable, and then lift it to the surface for repair.
Sometimes the grappling hook will cut off the damaged fiber optic cable, and the repair vessel will let the two ends rise out of the water for repair.
Submarine cable repair operations
The life span of submarine fiber optic cables is 25 years. As of 2014, the number of submarine communication cables has reached 285, of which 22 are no longer in use and are called "black fiber optic cables".
Submarine cables have a lifespan of 25 years, but they are economically viable from a capacity perspective for the duration of their service life.
Global data consumption has exploded over the past decade.
In 2013, Internet traffic reached 5GB per capita and is expected to increase to 14GB in 2018.
The good news is that new technologies in phase modulation and improvements in submarine line termination equipment have increased capacity by 8,000 percent in some areas, making them well prepared for the surge in Internet traffic.
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