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Why didn’t Covid-19 break the internet?

Jun 17, 2020
Over the past few months, the internet has seen a huge surge in traffic during the global coronavirus pandemic. People working from home with video conferencing tools like MS Teams, and a large increase in streaming provider subscriptions to companies like Netflix increased internet load. In this article we look at the reasons why the internet has continued to work so well during this time.

The short answer is that internet backbone infrastructure was designed to survive such an emergency. Providers began developing pandemic plans more than a decade ago as they knew part of the response would rely on their infrastructure. This planning has led to more fibre being laid than is normally needed and fast routers capable of delivering 100Gbps trunk speeds.

ISPs have been creating an internet backbone which is designed to withstand loads more than the norm. The principle of overbuilding capacity was one of the main reasons the internet performed so well. One of the biggest providers in the world is CenturyLink and their Chief Technology Officer Andrew Dugan has indicated three factors which helped the internet support increased volume.

• Networks are built with redundancy to handle fibre cuts and equipment failures. This means creating capacity headroom to support sudden disasters
• Network monitoring helps operators anticipate where congestion is occurring, allowing them to move traffic to less congested paths
• ISPs have been building out networks for years to account for increasing demand, and planning specifications help prevent networks from reaching capacity

Most of the cost in deploying cables for fibre is the labour to dig the trenches. Because of this cost most ISPs install more fibre strands than they currently have need of. Optical switches can be used to light up the additional cables if required.

Both AI and automation have helped the internet perform so well. AI is used to help identify issues with equipment before it becomes a problem. This AI and automation also help providers quickly respond to changing traffic patterns.  

As we move forward, we will continue to see investment in internet backbone infrastructure. This investment should help the internet stay ahead of any future demands put on it.

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