How undersea journeys hold the internet together

How undersea journeys hold the internet together

If you have a few moments to spare this morning and a burning desire to learn more about how data travels to your computer from servers around the world, take a look at this map. It shows the vital underwater cables that connect continents and carry the vast majority of the world's internet traffic.

Whenever you visit a website that's located on a server in another part of the world, it's almost certain that the data from that server will reach your computer by travelling through some of these undersea cables.

It's incredible to think that these tiny cables - each usually less than 10cm in diameter - form such a vital part of the internet infrastructure we've come to rely on every day. With each carrying an enormous volume of data, it's no wonder that a single cable snapping can cause big disruption and hit the headlines.

See the full map here >>

So, next time you watch that video of a panda sneezing on YouTube, just think how far it might have travelled to reach you. The internet: isn't it amazing?

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