Backbone network

A diagram of a nationwide network backbone.

A backbone or core network is a part of a computer network which interconnects networks, providing a path for the exchange of information between different LANs or subnetworks.[1] A backbone can tie together diverse networks in the same building, in different buildings in a campus environment, or over wide areas. Normally, the backbone's capacity is greater than the networks connected to it.[2]

A large corporation that has many locations may have a backbone network that ties all of the locations together, for example, if a server cluster needs to be accessed by different departments of a company that are located at different geographical locations. The pieces of the network connections (for example: Ethernet, wireless) that bring these departments together is often mentioned as network backbone. Network congestion is often taken into consideration while designing backbones.[3][4]

One example of a backbone network is the Internet backbone.[5]

  1. ^ "What is a Backbone?". Whatis.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved June 25, 2007.
  2. ^ "Backbone Networks". Chapter 8. Angelfire. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  3. ^ Turner, Brough (12 September 2007). "Congestion in the Backbone: Telecom and Internet Solutions". CircleID. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  4. ^ Kashyap, Abhishek; Sun, Fangting; Shayman, Mark. "Relay Placement for Minimizing Congestion in Wireless Backbone Networks" (PDF). Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  5. ^ Howdie, Ben (28 January 2013). "The Backbone's connected to the…". KashFlow. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.