Amazon's new armored undersea cable is fast enough to stream 12.5 million HD films simultaneously between the US and Ireland, repels attacks — Fastnet to deliver 320+ terabits per second across the Atlantic
Amazon Fastnet, armored undersea cable connecting US to Ireland is fast enough to stream 12.5 million HD films simultaneously
(Image credit: Amazon)
Amazon seems to be on an investment spree lately. Shortly after penning down a deal to help build the U.S.'s first modular nuclear power reactor, the company is expanding the reach of its worldwide network, in the literal sense. The company has pulled the curtain back on Fastnet, a new intercontinental cable wiring Maryland, U.S., to County Cork, Ireland. The new fiber cable has a capacity of at least 320 Tb/s, or, as Amazon puts it, enough to transfer 12.5 million HD films per second.
The cable should be operational in 2028, though its main task appears to be to act as a backup and load-balancing route. The extra capacity will be welcome for services that rely on AWS wares like CloudFront, Global Accelerator, and presumably, good ol' S3. Future plans include adding another 10 Availability Zones and three more AWS Regions to its growing portfolio of connectivity and data centers.
Amazon remarks that its real-time traffic monitoring system as "complete visibility into every link" in its global network and implements "millions of daily optimizations" so that traffic can always follow the best possible path. Right until its automated DNS orchestration brings everything down anyway, at least. Additionally, Amazon notes that Fastnet was "designed with two strategic landing points that deliver critical route diversity away from traditional cable corridors", probably meaning not wired to the UK or France as most other cross-Atlantic cables.
Quite interestingly, the shore-side sections of the cable are literally armored with two layers of protective steel wire, a wise decision in this day and age. It was not too long ago that some cables were cut in the Red Sea under questionable circumstances. Undersea cables are particularly critical and vulnerable infrastructure, as evidenced by the recent cut and Taiwan's recent sea patrols against telecom shenanigans. Geopolitics, unfortunately, play a part in connection locations, seeing as Vodafone recently chose to wire Europe and Asia with a route that bypasses Russia.
Amazon is creating Community Benefit Funds for Maryland's Eastern Shore and County Cork. The company says it'll work directly with stakeholders to fund local initiatives, including "sustainability and environmental programs, health and well-being services, Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) education, future workforce development, economic development and leadership training, inclusion and diversity initiatives, and programs addressing homelessness and hunger."
Bruno Ferreira is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. He has decades of experience with PC hardware and assorted sundries, alongside a career as a developer. He's obsessed with detail and has a tendency to ramble on the topics he loves. When not doing that, he's usually playing games, or at live music shows and festivals.
Amazon's new armored undersea cable is fast enough to stream 12.5 million HD films simultaneously between the US and Ireland, repels attacks — Fastnet to deliver 320+ terabits per second across the Atlantic
Amazon's new armored undersea cable will be fast enough, you can say it is fast enough as it has not been built yet.
Against dragging anchors? (nautical noob here).
Depth seems good!
Maybe concrete ramps on top in flat waters?
Invasion sensors that trigger a squadron with a robust mission might detour.
Seizing the ship until damages are compensated and the captain in prison for life might help ...
the odd individual ... reevaluate their options.
Quite interestingly, the shore-side sections of the cable are literally armored with two layers of protective steel wire, a wise decision in this day and age.
What does "shore-side" mean? As in, what % of this cable is protected? Sounds like only a small portion, but maybe parts that are easier to cut.
An internet speed of 320+ terabits per second capable of 12.5 million HD streams simultaneously means each live streams has an average video bitrate of 25.6Mbps
in this context, it seems incorrect to call it "fast" enough. I know that people usually describe internet bandwidth as how "fast" their internet is, but in this case, how *fast* the signal travels over the wires is actually a relevant thing. these wires are just as fast as any other fiber undersea cable, which is limited to the speed of light
they have enough bandwidth to do a lot, which is great, but it feels wrong to say it's "faster"
(yes, technically they have an effective speed lower than the speed of light due to signal dispersion, but that is also a physical limitation)
For protection cables are buried where practicable. Even in the States 2 decades ago there where requirements to bury for water depths up to 2km because that was about the deepest fishing trawlers were expected to work.
Double armour is common for inshore, nothing special here and very easy to cut with the right gear. There's also a minimum bend radius for the cable so it's possible to damaged the internal fibres without cutting the cable at all.
