Microsoft and Facebook Just Built a 4,000-Mile Cable Across the Pacfic Ocean (popularmechanics.com) 151
An anonymous reader quotes Popular Mechanics:
Microsoft, Facebook and global telecommunication infrastructure company Telxius have completed the Marea subsea cable, the world's most technologically advanced undersea cable. The Marea crosses the Atlantic Ocean over 17,000 feet below the ocean's surface, connecting Virginia Beach with Bilbao, Spain. Over 4,000 miles (6,600 kilometers) long and weighing nearly 10.25 million pounds (4.65 million kilograms), the Marea can transmit up to 160 terabits of data per second, which Microsoft notes is "more than 16 million times faster than the average home internet connection, making it capable of streaming 71 million high-definition videos simultaneously."
The undersea cable -- about 1.5 times the diameter of a garden hose -- contains eight pairs of fiber optic cables encircled by copper, a protective layer of hard plastic, and then waterproof coating. Its 4,000-mile route had to avoid everything from earthquake zones to active volcanoes.
Cables under the Atlantic Ocean carry 55% more data than cables under the Pacific, Microsoft writes, adding that "the project highlights the increasing role of private companies in building the infrastructure of the future."
The undersea cable -- about 1.5 times the diameter of a garden hose -- contains eight pairs of fiber optic cables encircled by copper, a protective layer of hard plastic, and then waterproof coating. Its 4,000-mile route had to avoid everything from earthquake zones to active volcanoes.
Cables under the Atlantic Ocean carry 55% more data than cables under the Pacific, Microsoft writes, adding that "the project highlights the increasing role of private companies in building the infrastructure of the future."
Atlantic? Pacific? WTF (Score:1)
NT
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Cables under the Atlantic Ocean carry 55% more data than cables under the Pacific
Is this due to water temperature, or ocean currents? I'm planning a trip to Spain soon and looking forward to seeing the Pacific Ocean.
Re:Atlantic? Pacific? WTF (Score:5, Funny)
I think it's to do with the Earth's rotation. In the Atlantic the data is moving with the spin, whereas in the Pacific it's against it, or something.
Obviously this doesn't apply in Australia.
Re: Atlantic? Pacific? WTF (Score:2)
It's also because the Atlantic is MUCH smaller than the Pacific and thus cables are MUCH shoter and cheaper.
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EditorDavid needs his GPS fixed
Re:Atlantic? Pacific? WTF (Score:5, Funny)
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Your GPS is even worse. Either that, or you flunked basic geography.
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Re: Atlantic? Pacific? WTF (Score:2)
How many Olympic-size swimming pools does this equal?
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s/GPS fixed/H1B revoked/
Pacfic or Atlantic (Score:4, Informative)
I guess the headline needs to be fixed.
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No, the cable needs to be rerouted.
Re:Pacfic or Atlantic (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Pacfic or Atlantic (Score:4, Insightful)
Or we could relocate Spain?
We already tried that [wikipedia.org]. It led to a lot of complaints.
Have you ever been to Spain (Score:3)
Re:Pacfic or Atlantic (Score:4, Informative)
It's irritating/embarrassing to see that major blunder just sit there for hours as search engines slurp it up and it embeds itself deeper in the sediment of the internet, to the eternal shame of Slashdot. Either a severe lack of attention by editors, or the code is too broken to allow revising the post? Either way it's a burning issue. Also note the typo in Pacific, as others pointed out. Posted without spell check? Why?
The article is otherwise fine, and confirms what we suspected all along: the internet is made of garden hose, not tubes.
Re:Pacfic or Atlantic (Score:4, Funny)
It's a Quantum Mechanics type question:
Schrödinger's Ocean is Atlantic and Pacific at the same time . . .
Title wrong (Score:5, Informative)
Someone needs to read their own summary: this looks like the Atlantic Ocean, not the Pacific Ocean.
Re:Title wrong (Score:5, Informative)
Someone needs to read their own summary: this looks like the Atlantic Ocean, not the Pacific Ocean.
They didn't say it was the Pacific Ocean. They said it was the Pacfic Ocean. Must be a new one - caused by rising sea levels?
WTF? Pacific in the Atlantic??? (Score:2)
These certainly are strange days. The Pacific is now in the Atlantic*. Next you'll be telling me that Cats are living with Dogs and that US is actually a reality show a la Truman.
How the fuck you get the Pacific I don't know. It's as if the last thing in the submission said "Pacific" and that's all the "editors" can remember - the last thing they saw.
Re:WTF? Pacific in the Atlantic??? (Score:4, Informative)
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#Trump will make the Pacific Atlantic again and make Mexico pay for his ignorance.
Well, which one is it? (Score:1)
Glad I took the time to read TFA. I would have been thoroughly confused given the headline and the summary text. Thanks for that.
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All the oceans are connected together, so arguably if you're crossing the Atlantic, you're also crossing the Pacific. :-D
TELXIUS built the fucking cable (Score:5, Interesting)
not M$ or FB. They paid for it.
My neighbor paid a contractor to build an extension to his house.
But he didn't do so much as lift a fucking brick. It's his house, he paid for it but he did NOT "build" it.
Re: TELXIUS built the fucking cable (Score:1)
+1 on this remark. In addition, private companies have been laying communications infrastructure since it could be done. This article reads like a shill advertisement to celebrate deregulated industry. Nice work by the technical folks, but fuck the marketing side.
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My neighbor paid a contractor to build an extension to his house.
The contractor didn't build the house - his tradesmen did.
See, this makes no sense.
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Diameter in "garden hose?" (Score:5, Funny)
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http://www.wolframalpha.com/in... [wolframalpha.com]
Re:Diameter in "garden hose?" (Score:5, Funny)
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African garden hose or a European garden hose?
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It changes halfway across the ocean...
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5/8 inch inside diameter means roughly 7/8 inches or 0.875 inches outside diameter.
An old-time tobacco Hogshead [wikipedia.org] was apparently 30 inches in diameter at the head, so... 0.875 / 30 = 0.029
A Google search for "0.875 inches in furlongs" (without the quotes) gives us 0.00011 furlongs.
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'Bout 0.03 hogshead-head-diameters or, of course, 0.00011 furlongs.
Wonder how many fortnights it took to build it?
ATLANTIC. PACIFIC. WTF. (Score:1, Troll)
Holy fuck EditorDavid. This is a whole new low. You've officially descended Slashdot to the depth of editing not even seen on Breitbart.
ATLANTIC. PACIFIC. Seriously, you can't even get that fucking simple a fact straight?
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I don't understand this comment.
Slashdot editor confuses Atlantic & Pacific Oc (Score:2)
News at 11
Pacific or Atlantic? (Score:3)
Headline says Pacific, article says Atlantic
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Re:Pacific or Atlantic? (Score:5, Funny)
Pacfic
Blinky looked at PacMan, gazing at his wide mouth and unblinking eye. They'd been on opposite sides for so long, but now, as he watched the yellow circle swallowing the pills, he felt a fluttering in his sheet...
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Pacfic
Blinky looked at PacMan, gazing at his wide mouth and unblinking eye. They'd been on opposite sides for so long, but now, as he watched the yellow circle swallowing the pills, he felt a fluttering in his sheet...
Your Pacfic interests me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Only Approved Traffic (Score:4, Interesting)
Only approved traffic will be allowed on the new cable. Anyone critical of Microsoft or Facebook will be banned from using it.
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Only approved traffic will be allowed on the new cable. Anyone critical of Microsoft or Facebook will be banned from using it.
Gotta protect the pipe. It will only allow for 71 millions hd streaming at the same time. Just the Facebook and MSN ads take more than that.
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So encryption will be banned on it?
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No it isn't, troll.
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At least you're not forced to pay for Microsoft/Facebook's cable; if you don't like their policies, then build your own damn cable. ... you're forced to pay for that Government cable.
"Private" is better. Always.
I've been forced to pay for Microsoft's pre-loaded operating systems several times. That or drop out the the modern world by having no PC. You can avoid paying any government too - by dropping out the the modern world and living on a rock. There are still a number of isolated rocks in the sea that are unclaimed, and if that sounds too barren and windswept you can always build your own damned infrastucture on it.
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Have you wondered why it's always more expense to build a PC these days than buy one?
The crapware they load on the pre-loaded Windows OS more than pays for the OS license.
That bundled Windows is actually making your PC cheaper.
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The crapware they load on the pre-loaded Windows OS more than pays for the OS license.
That bundled Windows is actually making your PC cheaper.
I am well aware of that. But, cheaper or not, MS and Gates still receive some money from me. I prefer to pay more to avoid that, and the crap & spy-ware.
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I do build my own PCs these days, but I have bought ones too. In the UK you need to go a long way to find a PC not pre-loaded with Windows.
Taking the long way round? (Score:5, Funny)
...4,000-Mile Cable Across the Pacfic Ocean ... connecting Virginia Beach with Bilbao, Spain
Microsoft maps claims another victim!
Allow to me clear things up. (Score:3)
Microsoft and Facebook laid a giant cable across The Atlantic [wikipedia.org] to keep them from posting any more mean things about them. This wasn't an accident, they did this pacifically because they heard bad things were going to be in the next issue.
I'm not sure how you guys got all confused about something so simple. ;)
Only 16 strands? (Score:3)
Seems odd to build new cables with such a low strand count-- is it just a function of the optical amplifiers?
Re:Only 16 strands? (Score:5, Informative)
For technological reasons, this gives the best value. There are also undersea fiber-optic cables with just 4 strands, and two of them are reserve ones. So the 8 pairs seen here are actually pretty high. And yes, it is mostly the amplifiers needed, they cannot get too large or you cannot just put them in the cable. These amplifiers are pretty tricky with laser-pumped Erbium embedded into the fiber.
4.65 million kgs (Score:3)
= 4650 tonnes. Which would have been a lot easier for most people to grog straight away. Still, at least they didn't measure it in elephants tho I suppose it won't be long before submitters drop to that dumbed down level.
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I don't think I can grog that much.
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4.65 Gigagrams
4.65 Gg
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I doubt anyone gives a damn about the slight difference between a ton and a tonne. Also if the submitter wanted to be 100% accurate he should have given its weight down to the nearest kg or lb, not rounded it off.
Goddamn slashdot editors are getting stupid (Score:3)
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Did they build gigantic multi-billion dollar headquarters, or did the construction companies they hired?
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But just as the appropriate verbiage for my example would be, "X had their driveways repaved," the correct way to write TFA would be "Facebook and Microsoft commissioned/ordered/payed for/bought a trans-Antarctic cable."
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From a MS press release: "Microsoft and Facebook agreed to partner on the development, Spanish telecommunication infrastructure company Telxius, a subsidiary of telecom provider TelefÃnica, joined as the third partner to manage the construction process and operate the cable." From a Facebook press release: "Microsoft and Facebook designed MAREA..."
Hint: (Score:3)
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"corporate giants that innovate" are exceedingly rare. Don't look at them without proper eye-wear.
Bigger feat not mentioned (Score:3)
Microsoft and Facebook Just Built a 4,000-Mile Cab (Score:3)
Holy Sh!t, EditorDavid - you either need more coffee, or more beer, or better weed (maybe all 3) - AND a $4.99 globe (with pencil sharpener) - to determine what the difference between PACIFIC and ATLANTIC mean to the REAL WORLD - - - - ooops, guess I forgot where I was posting, since /. does seem to make up it's OWN real world on occasion -lol-
I really, REALLY hope this was a spoofed sig, and not a post from one of /.'s REAL editors . . . . .
CALEA Compliant (Score:4, Insightful)
I wonder if the NSA has tapped it yet.
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I wonder if this cable is a response to the revelations of NSA tapping cables.
Does this provide Microsoft and Facebook any more protection (legal or technical) against NSA tapping without warrants?
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I'm sure the major powers have tapped everything, as well as placed little bombs hidden somewhere along those thousands of miles, for every undersea cable, ready to go in case of a war.
As with anything cool and complex, the angry men ready to destroy it are prepared, to preserve their power.
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I wonder if there's a secret undersea war. The US should build a little machine to regularly go up and down these cables, and cut free anything that's on it that doesn't belong.
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I forget which one of the first five Defcon's it was, but I remember sitting in on a presentation where the presenter laid out where all the undersea cables terminate and made the case that it would be pretty easy to destroy them. Keep in mind this was about 20 years ago, so they likely have additional connection points. Or maybe not.
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Here it is deniers!!! (Score:2, Funny)
More evidence of man-made "continental shift" and "ocean change". Unless the UN quickly acts, 97% of scientists think the Bering Sea will surround Tahiti in 15 years.
Specific Ocean (Score:3)
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Only during regular office hours. Outside of those it goes in the opposite direction.
Juicy Target (Score:2)
You know the NSA can't wait to tap into that. https://www.wired.com/2016/09/... [wired.com]
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What do you mean wait? Consider it already funded.
Perhaps more accurate.
FLAG (Score:5, Interesting)
One of my favorite articles of all time from any source is the piece Neal Stephenson wrote for Wired about the Fiber Optic Link (around the) Globe, or FLAG, in 1996.
https://www.wired.com/1996/12/... [wired.com]
It went from England to Japan (about 28,000 km/17,500 miles) and carried "just under 8 Gbps of actual throughput". 21 years later, this new cable has TWENTY THOUSAND times the bandwidth. Nice.
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Avoiding earthquake zones? (Score:2)
How? One of the biggest on the whole planet run south to north smack dab in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean separating the North American Plate from the Eurasian You may even have heard of it. Its called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The two plates are continuously pulling apart from each other, generating earthquakes all the time. You lay cable across the Atlantic west to east, you have to cross it
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How? One of the biggest on the whole planet run south to north smack dab in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean separating the North American Plate from the Eurasian You may even have heard of it. Its called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The two plates are continuously pulling apart from each other, generating earthquakes all the time. You lay cable across the Atlantic west to east, you have to cross it
I worked on the hydrographic survey for the East Asia Crossing back in 2001. We did the deep water multibeam sonar from Hong Kong to Singapore and back up to Taiwan and drew up the preliminary route maps. Also surveyed the landings in Manila using high resolution multibeam and sidescan. There were several geologic features we had to develop around due to excessive slopes, etc. Just northeast of Singapore the projected route went over a previously uncharted subsea volcano. I was running the multibeam and nav
It's all a bunch of pipes, maybe they... (Score:1)
Tunneled it Pacific over or under Atlantic just like ipv6 over ipv4?
Head End? (Score:2)
I live in VB. Where is the facility located?
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I live in VB.
I prefer to live in Emacs.
The Forgot to tell about... (Score:1)
The Top secret 6 strands of Fiber Optic cable in there that is only available to certain agencies.
Fake news for nerds (Score:4, Interesting)
With headlines like this staying uncorrected on a 'smart persons' web site for hours, it is easy to see how just a little fake news could sway an election using the less-informed public.
Measures used (Score:2)
Is the usage of obscure units some kind of inside joke that I'm unaware of. Here are all the units used in the summary:
* Over 17,000 feet below the ocean's surface [should be in meters]
* Over 4,000 miles (6,600 kilometers) long [Thank you for having a proper unit. But WTF is with the precision. Weight is given at least with three significant numbers.]
* weighing nearly 10.25 million pounds (4.65 million kilograms) [Million kilograms. Really? How about tons?]
* 160 terabits of data per second / more than 16 m
160 terabits of censorship (Score:1)
... then again it's not like our government let us say what's on our mind either anyway ..
Chilling (Score:2)
So two of the world's most evil companies now control the largest data pipe between continents. This is very scary for Freedom.
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Journalism has taken a nosedive in the last five-years.
I wouldn't use "journalism" and "Slashdot" in the same sentence.