How long would the internet last in the event of meltdown?

reply to post by slimpickens93


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Well, if the internet went down, that might cure my addiction to it, and allow me some time to take care of the numerous things I have been neglecting.

If we lost the power grid for an extensive period, then we would lose most or all of the internet, depending on how long the power was down, I would think. While most server houses have emergency power backup, it is only designed to last two or three days, tops. I guess it also depends on how well our phone, cable, and satelite systems are backed up by emergency power capabilities. Anyone done any research on these things?

Originally posted by XXXN3O
I was thinking about the internet last night and in particular this site as its my favourite.

With all the previous and (I think I can surely say without a doubt now) future catastrophe to come.
How long would it be before the internet is shut down to americans or indeed the world?

It is my understanding that the core of the internet traffic runs through AT&T in new york therefore if the stock market plunges to unrecoverable levels, there was a major attack or other scenarios would that not mean that the internet would be down?

Correct me if im wrong but is'nt ATS a commercial company so it would be possible it could go bust as well?

Is there any policies that members know of that would authorise a shut down of the net?

One more point, if the internet were to go down after a major event then most of the world would be completely oblivious to it from a general public view unless media air it and I would not rely on the UK media to say the least.

Obviously I am speculating here and i am interested to hear from anyone with any points or someone who knows the facts with regards to this.

Hope it never comes to it but what if's cannot be disregarded in these times even if its a big one.

[edit on 7-10-2008 by XXXN3O]

It's almost impossible to "shut down" the internet, there is no centralised point of control or administration. The internet is a combination of millions of computers, switches and routers all inter-linked by various communication mediums.

You may be able to shut down a small portion of i.e. by taking down an ISP but to totally shut down the whole of the internet is impossible.

However, if you read about something called the Goverment Telephone Preference System apparently it is possible. Scary stuff.