Using multiple semis to shuttle data around might seem like overkill. But for such massive amounts of data, hitting the open road is still the most efficient way to go. Even with a one gigabit per-second connection such as Google Fiber, uploading 100 petabytes over the internet would take more than 28 years. At an average speed of 65 mph, on the other hand, you could drive a Snowmobile from San Francisco to New York City in about 45 hours—about 4,970 gigabits per second. That doesn’t count the time it takes to actually transfer the data onto Snowmobile–which Amazon estimates will take less than 10 days–or from the Snowmobile onto Amazon’s servers. But all told, that still makes the truck much, much faster. And because Amazon has data centers throughout the country, your data probably won’t need to travel cross-country anyway.

Reminds me of the Pigeon Internet

kleinbl00:

Behold: DCP.

DCP is the end format used for theatrical projection. It creates large files. These large files take a long time to upload or download, particularly if you're somewhere rural.

It's more common for theatrical releases to be delivered on SSDs via USPS than it is for movies to be downloaded to cinemas. Using the USPS has the added advantage of any interception being a federal offense, thereby giving still more teeth to piracy claims.


posted 2692 days ago