Brief History
Computing systems were initially introduced by the USSR in the 1950’s. In 1952 Moscow’s Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer worked on an automated missile defense system which relied on a computer network to calculate and decipher radar data. This data was communicated with various base sites located several hundred kilometers away. After the fall of the USSR, the Russian Federation inherited the country’s vast communications infrastructure, and in the early 1990’s as the economy transformed, several internet service providers burst onto the scene.
In 2007 it was announced that all Russian schools would soon be connected to the internet. A report by the European Council in 2012 found that the number of users subscribed to fiber to building (FTTx) technology in Russia had increased by 2.2 million people. With a total of 7.5 million people connected to the internet using FTTx technology, this means that over 40% of Russian broadband users were connected through fiber optic technology. And since this report was published in 2012, that number is only expected to be higher today.
Much of Russia’s large fiber optic infrastructure can be attributed to the Chelyabinsk-Khabarovsk Fiber Optic Communication Line, which was laid out in 2005 and extends over 10,000 kilometers, with a minimum connection rate of 120 Gbps. In 2007 the Golden Telecom company created the world’s largest urban wireless network in Moscow for commercial use.
Up to 2011, most of Russia’s infrastructure backbone was centered on DWDM technology, which had a connection rate between 10 and 40 Gbps and was owned primarily by former state-owned Rostelecom and Transtelecom. The construction for a stronger fiber optic infrastructure, specifically for a better Transit Europe – Asia transit line, has been ongoing since 2011.
Speed And Reliability
A report published in the middle of 2016 by Russian-based company Qrator Labs, found that Russia’s national internet network, RuNet, ranked as the third most reliable network in the world. This is largely due to the over 1,000 active network operators currently active within the country, with Rostelecom being the largest. This study was also based on a nation’s vulnerability to DDoS attacks.
A Q3 report conducted by content delivery network Akamai, which analyzes global internet speeds, found that Russia has the 17th fastest average peak connection with a speed of 54.2 Mbps. This is just above Finland, Hungary, Thailand, Bulgaria, the US and UK, and just behind Iceland, Belgium, and Switzerland.
Today the country has an average connection speed of 10.2 Mbps and an average peak connection speed of 57.9 Mbps. So with all this said, Russia ranks middle of the pack when it comes to connection speeds. This isn’t great, since they have yet to be included as having one of the top 10 fastest national internet speeds, but it’s definitely better than most countries.
All-in-all, Russia is a solid and reliable location for housing a VPS, especially if you’re targeting a European or Asian audience. Here’s our comprehensive list of the best VPS providers in Russia. Categorically ranked with speed, technology, reliability, and prices in mind.
