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Networking & Telecommunications vocabulary · Telecom Operators and Services

Backbone

Meaning in networking & telecommunications, with examples

/ˈbækbəʊn/nounCommon term

In networking & telecommunications, backbone means: The high-capacity core part of a network that connects smaller networks, sites or cities and carries most of the traffic between them.

In Turkish: omurga, omurga ağı, backbone

How it is used

Used for operator networks (an internet backbone, a national fibre backbone) and for company networks (the campus backbone between buildings). Backbone links are usually the fastest in the network and are built with redundancy.

Example sentences

  1. The operator is upgrading its national backbone to 400G links.

  2. All buildings on the campus connect to the backbone over two separate fibre paths.

Common collocations

  • internet backbone
  • fibre backbone
  • backbone network
  • campus backbone
  • backbone link
  • last mileThe final part of a telecom network that connects the operator's local exchange or street cabinet to the customer's building; it is often the slowest and most expensive part to build.
  • carrierA telecommunications company that owns or operates a network and carries voice and data traffic for customers or for other operators.
  • MPLSShort for Multiprotocol Label Switching: a technique used in operator networks that forwards traffic using short labels instead of full IP lookups; it is widely sold to companies as a private WAN service.
  • BGPShort for Border Gateway Protocol: the routing protocol that networks on the internet use to exchange routes with each other, so that traffic can find its way between different operators and companies.
  • redundancyHaving extra devices, links or power supplies in place so that the network keeps working if one of them fails.

More terms: Telecom Operators and Services

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