Backbonem(The smaller networks (compared with the entire Internet) that perform the bulk of the packet switching of Internet communication. Today these smaller networks still consist of the networks that were originally developed to make up the Internet-the computer networks of the educational and research institutions of the United States-especially NSFnet, the computer network of the National Science Foundation in Oak Ridge, Tennessee)
The main communication channel of a digital network. The part of a network that handles the major traffic(Employs the highest-speed transmission paths in the network and may also run the longest distances. Smaller networks are attached to the backbone, and networks that connect directly to the end user or customer are called "access networks." A backbone can span a geographic area of any size from a single building to an office complex to an entire country. Or, it can be as small as a backplane in a single cabinet)
