Ah. So, basically you're saying the answer is "magic". Gotcha!

No, no. It's just sufficiently advanced technology.

Perhaps I made a wrong choice of words. Used as "secondary" is probably a better word than "backup". Wholesale providers often supply all kinds of data (TV, Phone, VoIP, cell phone, Internet), not just internet. When satellites go down cable receives a lot of stress: TV channels down intermitently, failed international calls, slow internet (if not solved before peak hours).

No, you did not make a wrong choice of words: it is in fact your very opinion that is wrong, as they say.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_communications_cable#Importance_of_submarine_cables

99% of all traffic going through underseas cables makes them neither 'backup' nor 'secondary'. If anything, it is the other way around, if you take the generous interpretation of calling less than one percent of capacity a meaningful backup, that is.

99% of all traffic going through underseas cables makes them neither 'backup' nor 'secondary'. If anything, it is the other way around, if you take the generous interpretation of calling less than one percent of capacity a meaningful backup, that is.

Hi, this has the potential of becoming a flame war, so I'll be brief.
The article in Wikipedia fails to cite that quote. There are two citations in that parragraph, and neither of them talk about the 1% vs 99%. Furthermore Wikipedia talks about cables as if they were all already made and links to articles about underwater cables, some which have actually started working last year, and some others yet operational.
Despite this, there's a shift to submarine cables, that's true; but I'll like to see reliable sources regarding the traffic comparison.
Optic fibers offer significantly lower latency and more bandwidth, but they're very expensive; and have their own set of problems: underwater earthquakes, shark bites, and anchor damage.

Well, enough getting out of topic. Regardless of whether satellite or cable is used, the story is the same. Client -> ISP -> Wholesale -> ***magic*** -> Wholesale -> ISP -> Client.
I had a whitepaper that clearly explained how that magic works, but you'll have to excuse me as I can't find it. At least I may point you some directions, Dijkstra's algorithm has to do with it. Follow the link to "routing" in Wikipedia.
We use a derived version from Dijkstra's in games BTW, called "A*" which is used for pathfinding.

The article in Wikipedia fails to cite that quote.

Fair enough; that places it on equal footing with your quote.

Given this divergence of opinions, and keeping an open mind as to which is the more credible source here, we should at the very least warn the impressionable parts of our audience that the jury is still out on this one, lest theyd be rash and accept your worldview without further questioning. Because then they would be completely wrong.

Well, enough getting out of topic.
[/quote]
Yeah. Admitting your mistake is probably the shortest way out.

I had a whitepaper that clearly explained how that magic works, but you'll have to excuse me as I can't find it. At least I may point you some directions, Dijkstra's algorithm has to do with it. Follow the link to "routing" in Wikipedia.

*cough*

For more reading you might want to look up BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), which is mostly how ISPs communicate with each other. For comparison you may want to look up interior gateway protocols like OSPF or IS-IS.

[quote name='Matias Goldberg' timestamp='1322783056' post='4889627']
I had a whitepaper that clearly explained how that magic works, but you'll have to excuse me as I can't find it. At least I may point you some directions, Dijkstra's algorithm has to do with it. Follow the link to "routing" in Wikipedia.

*cough*

For more reading you might want to look up BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), which is mostly how ISPs communicate with each other. For comparison you may want to look up interior gateway protocols like OSPF or IS-IS.

[/quote]
Sorry. I was feeling guilty for going off topic starting with my 2nd post, with little contribution to the original questions (it was unclear whether he was doubting about how routing works, or how communications are made internationally); so I had to throw something.

Edit: It's sad to see Eelco's and my post both with -1; it makes it look like we've both thumbed us down each other. Thumbing Eelco's post up.

The article in Wikipedia fails to cite that quote.

Wikipedia could probably take as circumstantial evidence the entirely accidential cable cuts that are not related to any covert operations that don't exist or wars or political motives, and regularly happen by accident.

Such as in 2005, when Pakistan was totally cut off the world, or 2008 when FLAG FEA, GO-1, SEA-ME-WE 3, and SEA-ME-WE-4 were all accidentially cut at the same time, pulling the plug for large parts of northern Africa and Middle East (basically the entire Arab world), India, and many Asian countries (some of which funnily denied the obvious fact) for two weeks. Communication during that time was extremely limited to alternative routes such as via SEA-ME-WE-3, which was accidentially cut in 2010 to a similar effect.

Ah. So, basically you're saying the answer is "magic". [/quote]
No, no. It's just sufficiently advanced technology.[/quote]
This advanced technology is surprisingly simple (one could say quite primitive). However, that is it's very ingeniuity, and its strength. It is of course a little more complicated, but in principle it is as easy as this:
Do I know the receiver? Does anyone else here know them? Yes --> forward to destination. No --> pass to default route, someone else will know...

What I don't understand is, what is the cloud? a lot of marketing materials talk about it as if its a thing as opposed to stuff, and I suspect its actually stuff, but i don't quite get what it is.

What is the postal service?

What is the postal service?

A socialist conspiracy. If it were left to the free market, it wouldn't exist.