The Cloud Is Not in the Sky, It's in the Sea : The Truth About Undersea Internet Cables

When you hear the word cloud, you probably imagine something magical floating above us, holding our emails, files, and video calls. But here's the not-so-magical truth.. the cloud mostly lives under the sea, inside thousands of kilometers of fiber optic cables spread across ocean floors.

This week, Microsoft's cloud platform learned that lesson the hard way when cables in the Red Sea were cut. Suddenly, a company worth trillions of dollars was at the mercy of a few broken lines lying in saltwater.

It sounds funny at first, our modern, futuristic "cloud" being taken down by something as basic as a cable cut. But that's how fragile the internet really is.

The Secret Life of Undersea Internet Cables

Around 95% of the world's internet traffic runs through undersea cables. They are no thicker than a garden hose, yet they carry everything from WhatsApp messages to billion-dollar financial trades.

When these cables break, because of ship anchors, natural disasters, or sometimes sabotage, whole regions can go dark online. And that's exactly what happened in the Red Sea.

Microsoft was quick to clarify: "Traffic that does not traverse through the Middle East is not impacted." In other words, if your data wasn't taking a swim in the Red Sea, you were fine. If it was, too bad.

Why Should You Care?

Because this isn't just about Microsoft. It's about the illusion of the "cloud."

Every time you upload a photo, stream a movie, or log into work calls, you are not floating into some magical sky. You are diving into the seabed, where thousands of kilometers of glass cables are carrying your bits and bytes across continents.

And those cables? They can be cut by accident, or on purpose. One fisherman dropping anchor in the wrong spot can suddenly make your Teams meeting glitch.

Satellites vs. Cables

At this point, you might wonder.. why not just beam everything through satellites like Starlink? The short answer is speed and capacity. Satellites help in emergencies or remote areas, but cables remain faster, cheaper, and capable of handling the sheer scale of global data.

So yes, even in 2025, the world still depends on fragile tubes of glass lying at the bottom of oceans.

The Irony of the Cloud

Microsoft's outage is a reminder wrapped in irony. The "cloud," a word that feels futuristic and limitless, is actually a network of very physical cables vulnerable to the oldest problems in the book, geography, accidents, and human error.

It’s funny, in a way. The same technology that powers AI, global finance, and video calls can be disrupted by a few broken lines underwater. But it's also serious, because the more we depend on this invisible backbone, the more fragile our digital lives really are.

So the next time someone tells you, "It's safe, it's on the cloud," just remember.. your files aren't floating in the sky. They are lying on the seabed of the Red Sea, hoping nobody trips over them.