Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Transatlantic Cable Fault Disrupts Internet In UK

Posted by timothy on from the electrify-the-atlantic dept.

An anonymous reader submits "Web traffic between the U.S. and Europe has been hit after an undersea cable developed a major fault on Tuesday. Because the TAT-14 cable network is shaped like a ring, it should be able to cope with one such failure -- but unfortunately the consortium that owns it hadn't fixed an earlier problem, just off the U.S. coast. Just shows how systems with build-in redundancy can still go badly wrong...."

36 of 394 comments (clear)

  1. Tin foil hat, please. by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    LINX, the London Internet Exchange, which carries nearly all UK Internet traffic and over half of Europe's Internet traffic

    I guess the Echelon boys got to go home early that day.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Tin foil hat, please. by bsharitt · · Score: 5, Funny

      Does this mean that there will be packets washing up on the coast over the next few days?

    2. Re:Tin foil hat, please. by sachar · · Score: 1, Funny

      Screw fiber! lets use avian carriers. (RFC1149)

  2. Ok let me get this straight.... by Neck_of_the_Woods · · Score: 5, Funny


    We have a link from the US to the UK.

    It is redundant, unless we have 2 faults.

    We have a single fault...but we don't repair it.

    So then we have anouther one!

    I would really like to ask if these guys ever thought of putting together a startup....because let me tell you, they already have the right frame of mind.

    --
    Neck_of_the_Woods
    #/usr/local/surf/glassy/overhead
    1. Re:Ok let me get this straight.... by grub · · Score: 1, Funny


      these cables lie under several fathoms of ocean, they are not that easy to just fix.

      It's hold to hard your breath while soldering underwater.

      --
      Trolling is a art,
    2. Re:Ok let me get this straight.... by billimad · · Score: 2, Funny

      Cables like the TAT-14 don't stay unfixed just because someone in management is lazy.

      no, but they do if it's up to the French to fix it.

    3. Re:Ok let me get this straight.... by kiwimate · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why the {expletive deleted} is this modded so high?

      Well, let's see. Perhaps because the parent poster (i) did read the article; (ii) also read the thread here; and (ii) apparently has somewhat better English comprehension skills than someone else I could name.

      You see, it's quite simple. He's talking about the initial problem. You're talking about the subsequent problem. The initial problem, from the article...

      Unfortunately, a part of the cable near the US coast had already suffered a technical fault earlier this month, which meant there was no built-in redundancy to cope with Tuesday's failure. According to BT, the US-side fault should be fixed by the end of this week, which will bring the cable network online again.

      Now, as you'll see, there is no mention as to what the actual problem was, just a guide as to when it'll be fixed which gives us an indication that it is taking some time. This, in turn, was the subject of discussion of the original post.

      I hope this elucidation has clarified the issue for you. Oh yes, one more thing...you're a silly git.

    4. Re:Ok let me get this straight.... by grozzie2 · · Score: 2, Funny
      no, but they do if it's up to the French to fix it.

      Actually, if you read the article, you would know. The first fault occurred weeks ago, on the american side. The second fault on Tuesday, on the European side. If the first fault had been fixed when it happened, then this new one would not have brought the system down, so, it appears the facts disagree with your statement.

      The statement should correctly read:
      no, but they do if it's up to the americans to fix it.

  3. A very british disconnection.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    So that explains my inbox full of random british comments like "My internet's fell of the lolly!" and "I've bloody well lost my connection!" and "Cherrio good chap, the internet's down!"

  4. Say it ain't so! by Sanity · · Score: 4, Funny
    With the Brits off the Internet, who are we going to rely on to correct our grammar? Who is going to tell us that every plot of every US scifi show was done in the 70's by Dr Who? Who is going translate Alan Cox' Welsh weblog for the rest of us? Who will fight the other side of the "Who invented the first computer?" debate?

    This really is a great loss for the Slashdot community.

    1. Re:Say it ain't so! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Reports of us Brits being off the net have been greatly exaggerated

    2. Re:Say it ain't so! by adrianbaugh · · Score: 2, Funny

      Er, if the Brits are off the internet then you're not going to be able to read AC even in the original Welsh. As far as I know (living 12 miles from the border) Wales is still a part of Britain (despite the best-laid plans of the English to cut it loose and float it off into the Irish Sea ;-P)

      --
      "'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'"
      - JRR Tolkien.
    3. Re:Say it ain't so! by Chicane-UK · · Score: 2, Funny

      It'll take more than internet disruptions to keep us Brits from correcting your grammar mistakes, and translating Alan Cox's blog.

      Though I don't speak a word of welsh, and my grammar probably isn't that hot.. so you'll just have to make do with the company :D

      --
      "Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
  5. Re:Kinda scary.. by grub · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sorry, I've read that 5 times now and am unable to parse it. Also babelfish doesn't have Drooler->English translation. Please rephrase.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  6. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  7. Well, that's consortiums for you. by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 4, Funny
    Can't they get some quantum wormhole tunneling dealy-widgets-whatzits going so we don't need cables anywhere anymore?

    Man, the FBI is going to have to interview *every* *single* *fish* in the area for Al-Queda connections.

    No one will even suspect the dolphins because they are supposed to be, like, higher mammals or something.

    --
    --- Ban humanity.
    1. Re:Well, that's consortiums for you. by tuffy · · Score: 3, Funny
      Man, the FBI is going to have to interview *every* *single* *fish* in the area for Al-Queda connections.

      I had no idea "Finding Nemo" was a crime drama...

      --

      Ita erat quando hic adveni.

  8. one more thing... by CaptainBaz · · Score: 2, Funny

    You forgot the tea advocacy :-)

  9. probably was a startup by ciaran_o_riordan · · Score: 3, Funny

    It probably was a startup, y'know, back in the ol' under-water-cable boom of 1999. But then the bubble burst, and all the people that dropped out of college to lay cables on the ocean floor had to find real jobs.

    --
    Expert in software patents or patent law? Contribute to the ESP wiki!
  10. Oh no the Internet almost broke? by hellfire · · Score: 2, Funny

    She added that the Internet was not broken, as traffic was rerouted through other networks.

    I read this and I couldn't help but think of a CDW commercial:

    Clueless pointy-haired boss to the camera: "Fred? I think I just crashed the Internet."

    --

    "All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"

  11. That's Strange, I'm in the UK by Mirk · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's strange, I'm in the UK and SlashDot is hosted in America, so according to this story, I should be having problems -- but in fact, everything is working just fiFgfdgf3gf4h32hh%$$$424452

    --

    --
    What short sigs we have -
    One hundred and twenty chars!
    Too short for haiku.
  12. Just wiggle the cable! by MrNybbles · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why not do what my friend Mike does when he has a problem with a bad cable and just jiggle it a little? It works great for his monitor cable so why not for a giant bundle of fiberoptics/wires/whatever in the ocean? What could possably go wrong? Jiggling the cable has got to be cheaper than going down to BestBuy and buying a new cable and running it from the US to the UK. Don't get the extended warrenty though, it's not worth it!

    --
    Losing faith in humanity one person at a time.
    1. Re:Just wiggle the cable! by t_allardyce · · Score: 2, Funny

      Just remember next time your on a plane - one of those 1000's of wires will have at one point stopped working and the first thing the engineer will have done is jiggle it, then when it worked they would have signed the form and moved on.

      --
      This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
  13. It's not all that bad... by silvaran · · Score: 1, Funny

    I don't know what everybody's complaining about. I mean we've got these big, thick cables connecting us to our friends in the west. I'm in the UK and I'm not having an$**!#@j pr83

    NO CARRIER

  14. Re:That's totally fuct by pla · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's really an impressive technology. Kinda creepy, too. All that information streaming through the dark sea bed...

    Now you know why the high-pressure methane breathing aliens (the ones who live under the sea for convenience of maintaining "atmospheric" pressure in their domes) know all about us, but we know almost nothing about them.

    We've just given them a high-bandwidth line that we have almost no ability to monitor between the two endpoints.


    (For the humor-impaired... Laugh).

  15. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  16. Re:Oh well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Haha, check your facts...

    Al Gore is not British.

  17. Dammit!!! by BurKaZoiD · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...web traffic between the U.S. and Europe has been hit...

    I guess that means no underage swedish lolitas for me today...*sigh*

    --


    Spread the RC luvin'
  18. Whose fault? by iamdrscience · · Score: 4, Funny

    Whose fault were these faults? Were these faults the fault of the oceanic faults? I've heard some people say that these faults were the fault of faulty maintenance, but it seems to me that you can't fault them for the faults. Now perhaps that's a faulty assertion, but I really believe that the fault of the faults lies squarely upon the techtonic faults and not the fault of this supposedly faulty maintainers. I really doubt that the faults are their fault.

    I'm sorry.

    ...this post was all my fault. :-(

  19. A fly on the wall would likely have heard.... by Newer+Guy · · Score: 4, Funny
    As TAT-14 is a dual, bi-directional ring of cable, a single serious fault should not be enough to break it, as traffic would still be able to flow between the countries on the ring. Unfortunately, a part of the cable near the US coast had already suffered a technical fault earlier this month, which meant there was no built-in redundancy to cope with Tuesday's failure.

    I can hear it now:

    "Hey boss, half of the cable just failed. We need to get on this right away".

    The cable's still working, right?

    "Yeah, but if something else goes wrong, we're screwed".

    Look, that cable hasn't failed in ten years; let's put off repairing it until January. That way it won't affect our 2003 budget.

    But these things generally happen in pairs, and with no back up - well, we're taking an awful risk. If something else fails, most of Europe - well, I don't have to tell you the consequences. Plus, remember..the weather in January -

    cuts him off-- Not gonna happen! Put it on the schedule for mid January!

    Hopefully that manager is no longer employed....but don't be surprised if he winds up at Clear Channel! He sounds like just their kind of guy!
  20. Cheap management, not lazy management by swb · · Score: 5, Funny

    You're new here, aren't you? Management is cheap, not lazy. Redundancy means that when something breaks they save money by not fixing it, not that they can keep running while they do fix it.

    They delays in repair may also be due to the bids they have out to fix it: A Greek sponge diver, the "Polynesian" pearl diver from an unnamed Florida amusement park and a crew from Bangalore with no diving experience or equipment, but a willingness to follow the diving script. There's also a chance that an unnamed "muff diver" may be employed as well, but executives are downplaying it as part of their don't ask, don't tell policy.

    Management originally wanted the crew from "Ghost Ship" because the chick was hot, but when they found out it was only a movie they had to look elsewhere.

  21. Re:No big loss. by basingwerk · · Score: 3, Funny

    Reminds me of the Brit newspaper headline - Storm Stops Ferries, Continent Cut Off!

    --
    I stole this .sig
  22. Re:Oh well by zulux · · Score: 2, Funny

    Have you considered the irony of posting such a comment in a web based discussion forum,

    Ahem.....some of us are using gopher.slashdot.org

    And even a few old-timers use ftp.slashdot.org for their fix.

    If you have a low account numbber under 1000 - you can still use slashdot's 1-800 dial-up number with your 300 baud modem. Besure to set your parity to 7 and not 8.

    TTY service to Slashdot has been down for the last year though...

    --

    Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.

  23. Re:Problem ticket #1 : GOATSE DOWN!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    The cannonical slashdot response is : "No it isn't, I just checked."

    This is just proof why redundancy works!

  24. So, then you might say.... by switcha · · Score: 2, Funny
    As TAT-14 is a dual, bi-directional ring of cable, a single serious fault should not be enough to break it,...

    ...customers may currently be experiencing problems with all Internet access, including Web browsing, email, ftp and newsgroups.

    So....there was just one ring to screw them all?

    --
    You know what? ... A little club soda *did* get that out!
  25. I think we just by JohnnyGTO · · Score: 2, Funny

    /. ed the last of their cable capacity :-)

    --
    Si vis pacem, para bellum! For evil to succeed good men need only do nothing!