A shark can disrupt your Internet connectivity

The Internet is a global computer network for communication The Internet simply moves data from one place to another, so that we can chat, browse and share, what we see in our daily lives is you are connected to a Telecom Tower ( see pic below) and you receive signals from that tower. When we are out of network coverage area we commonly call it as NO range or tower. This week sitting in the thought bar it’s all about how the Internet works and how signals are sent across oceans without a tower.

Data is sent across in digital packets and each packet contains both data and information about that data. The information about the packet's contents is known as the "header," and it goes at the front of the packet so that the receiving machine knows what to do with the packet. To understand the purpose of a packet header, think of how some consumer products come with assembly instructions, these packets when assembled back automatically in to picture/video or any document file. Its the same way as statue of Liberty was actually made by France and sent to USA with instructions on how to assemble it.

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the directory of the Internet. DNS translates domain names to IP addresses so browsers can load Internet resources. Each device connected to the Internet has a unique IP address which other machines use to find the device.

One common misconception is that most of our information is transmitted through satellites, but fiber optic cables ( see pic below) actually form the backbone of the internet, transmitting about 99% of all data. They are laid down at different depths. For example, the deepest part of the submarine cable See pic below) between Japan and the U.S. is about 8,000 meters below sea level. These days companies like Google. Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft own 50% of the large undersea cables across the world ( see pic below)

Submarine cables ( see pic below) are laid down by using specially-modified ships that carry the submarine cable on board and slowly lay it out on the seabed. The ships can carry with them up to 2,000km-length of cable. Newer ships and ploughs do about 200km of cable laying per day. Cable cuts happen "on average once every three days. There are 25 large ships that do nothing but fix cable (see pic below )cuts and bends, and that such cuts are usually the result of cables rubbing against rocks on the sea floor. The positions of the cables are clearly marked on maps, charts and navigation systems so ships know where they are and do not drop their anchors but mistakes do happen.

 In 2006, an earthquake simultaneously severed eight cables off the coast of Taiwan, resulting in the loss of 90 percent of the data traffic between China, the U.S. and Europe. Similarly, in an incident in 2008, two cables carrying 90 percent of internet traffic through the Suez Canal were broken, obstructing internet access for 75 million people across North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. In December 2016 a ship dragging its anchor cut three undersea internet cables connecting the Channel Islands to the UK . A shark can bite and damage a cable too (see pic below)

Currently, there are 15 subsea cables landing in 15 cable landing stations in 5 cities across India, Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin, Tuticorin and Trivandrum.

Google is taking internet communication to the next level, Google’s plan is to create wireless networks via equipment-laden balloons floating in the stratosphere, high above the clouds. The balloons ( see pic below) communicate with each other and with ground-based networking equipment and mobile devices to get people on the ground connected. Over the last three years, Loon successfully let wireless carriers in Peru and Puerto Rico use balloons for free to supplant cell phone towers downed by natural disasters.

Alphabet owned Loon (formerly known as Project Loon) is a network of stratospheric balloons designed to bring Internet connectivity to rural and remote communities worldwide.