Tribeca residents have long complained about the noisy equipment used to cool 60 Hudson Street, a telecommunications building encompassing a whole city block, and a new article in Fortune magazine highlights just why the building is so hot: it's one of the largest points of internet traffic in the nation. Called "Mapping the Internet," the article visualizes the millions of miles of underground fiber optic cables that carry data as light from point A to point B. Most cables sit on or under the ocean floor, and when they reach the shore, they enter a "lighthouse" (aka landing station) like 60 Hudson.
Manhattan's fiber optic system centers around Wall Street, but for security purposes, the article doesn't name the exact locations of the landing stations or the names of the carriers. No bridges or tunnels were included either. But because of the Freedom of Information Act, carriers post all this information online, so if you want to geek out over the exact route of your Verizon Fios, you can look it up.
· Mapping the Internet [Fortune]
· Is This the Ultimate Map of the Internet? [Mashable]
h/t to Nicolas Rapp
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