World's Fastest Internet - 1.6 TERABITS per Second

The video examines how DreamHack 2018 achieved a world record level of 1.6 terabits per second of internet bandwidth and what it takes to sustain that throughput in a large esports LAN party. It begins by setting the context that this speed is enough for every attendee in St John's Newfoundland to stream HD video concurrently and to download a major update like PUBG in a fraction of a second. The host travels to Sweden to tour the specialized gear, starting with a single yellow fiber cable that carries eight wavelengths of light, each capable of 200 gigabits per second. The explanation covers how passive and active signal manipulation separates the wavelengths, routing them into multiple fibers, and ultimately distributing the data to 6,000 plus participants through a network of 23 distribution switches and many access points. The video then explains how copper connections are used only for the final short distance, with 1 gigabit shared by most users unless a premium package upgrades to 10 gig uplinks. The system’s redundancy becomes a major focus, with dual routers at each end and multiple data center paths to ensure the network even remains functional if a main link is damaged. It shifts to automation and monitoring, describing an automated deployment system using DHCP, TFTP, and Python, supported by Prometheus for real-time health metrics and Grafana dashboards to visualize usage, hours played, and domain activity. Power demands are addressed with elaborate electrical infrastructure, including dedicated 10 kilovolt lines transformed to 400-volt rails, along with safety measures like RCDs to limit outages. Finally, the team demonstrates a custom broadcast solution that centralizes video and audio streams, enabling flexible input switching and in-game data overlays for moments like player health or bomb timers, all synchronized with stage lighting and pyrotechnics. The host closes by acknowledging the impressive integration of hardware, software, and event production that makes a mega-lan possible, and thanks Com Hem for sponsorship while inviting viewers to engage with DreamHack events.

Topics · technology · networking · esports · data_centers · energy_infrastructure