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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...."

8 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.

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    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. 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.

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    1. 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.

  3. 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

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  4. 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!

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  5. 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).

  6. 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.