Each line is drawn between two nodes, representing two IP addresses. This is a small look at the backbone of the Internet.

The Internet backbone refers to the main "trunk" connections of the Internet. It is made up of a large collection of interconnected commercial, government, academic and other high-capacity data routes and core routers that carry data across the countries, continents and oceans of the world. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 600 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1280 × 1280 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 600 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1280 × 1280 pixel, file size: 1. ... An IP address is a unique number, akin to a telephone number, used by machines (usually computers) to refer to each other when sending information through the Internet using the Internet Protocol. ... // Main article: Link aggregation In computer networking, trunking defines using multiple network cables or ports in parallel to increase the link speed beyond the limits of any one single cable or port. ... A core router is a router designed to operate in the Internet backbone, or core. ...

Part of the extreme resilience of the Internet is due to a high level of redundancy in the Internet backbone and the fact that the Internet Protocol routing decisions are made and updated in real-time during use. For the band see Resilience (band) Resilience generally means the ability to recover from (or to resist being affected by) some shock, insult, or disturbance. ... In engineering, the duplication of critical components of a system with the intention of increasing reliability of the system, usually in the case of a backup or fail-safe, is called redundancy. ... The Internet Protocol (IP) is a data-oriented protocol used for communicating data across a packet-switched internetwork. ... This article is about routing (or routeing) in computer networks. ...

History

The original Internet backbone was the ARPANET. ARPANET logical map, March 1977. ...

In 1989 the NSFNet backbone was established, the US military broke off as a separate MILNET network, and the ARPANET was shut down. Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... National Science Foundation Network (NSFNet) was a major part of early 1990s Internet backbone. ... MILNET was the name given to the part of ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet, that was designated for nonclassified US Military use. ...

A plan was then developed for expanding NSFNet further, prior to rendering it obsolete by creating a new network architecture based on decentralized routing.

With the decommissioning of the NSFNet Internet backbone network on April 30, 1995, the Internet now consists entirely of the various commercial ISPs and private networks (as well as inter-university networks), as connected at their peering points. National Science Foundation Network (NSFNet) was a major part of early 1990s Internet backbone. ... is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... “ISP” redirects here. ... Peering is voluntary interconnection of administratively separate Internet networks for the purpose of exchanging traffic between the customers of each network. ...

The term "Internet backbone" is now sometimes loosely used to refer to the inter-provider links and peering points. However, with the universal use of the BGP routing protocol, the Internet functions with no single central network at all. The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the core routing protocol of the Internet. ... This article is about routing (or routeing) in computer networks. ...

With the advent of the dot-com bust of 2002, a number of major telecommunications carriers were threatened by bankruptcy, and some failed completely: for example, the EBONE network was decommissioned in its entirety. This was a successful test of the level of fault-tolerance and redundancy of the Internet. Dot-com (also dotcom or redundantly dot. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... EBONE stands for European Backbone, and was a pan-European Internet backbone. ...

Overview

The Internet backbone consists of many different networks. Usually, the term is used to describe large networks that interconnect with each other and may have individual ISPs as clients. For example, a local ISP may provide service for a single town, and connect to a regional provider which has several local ISPs as clients. This regional provider connects to one of the backbone networks, which provides nationwide or worldwide connections. For the scientific and engineering discipline studying computer networks, see Computer networking. ...

These backbone providers usually provide connection facilities in many cities for their clients, and they themselves connect with other backbone providers at Internet Exchange Point (IXP)s such as MAE-East in the eastern United States or FreeIX in France. The largest of these IXP's in terms of both throughput and connected peers is the Amsterdam Internet Exchange. // An Internet exchange point (IX or IXP) is a physical infrastructure that allows different Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to exchange Internet traffic between their networks (autonomous systems) by means of mutual peering agreements, which allow traffic to be exchanged without cost. ... MAE-East is an eastern branch of The MCI Internet Exchange. ... FreeIX is an Internet Exchange Point run by the French ISP Proxad. ... The Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) is an Internet Exchange Point situated in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. ...

Backbone networks are usually commercial, educational, or government owned, such as military networks. Some large companies that provide backbone connectivity include UUnet (now a division of Verizon), British Telecom, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, France Télécom, Reliance Communications, VSNL, BSNL, Teleglobe (now a division of VSNL International), Flag Telecom (now a division of Reliance Communications), TeliaSonera, Qwest, Level 3 Communications, AOL,SAVVIS and XO Communications. UUNET Technologies Logo Post-WorldCom UUNET Logo Original UUNET Logo UUNET is one of the oldest and largest Internet service providers and one of the nine Tier 1 networks. ... This article or section should include material from Bell Atlantic This article or section should include material from GTE Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is a local exchange telephone company formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic, a former Bell Operating Company, and GTE, which was the largest independant local exchange... BT Group plc (which trades as just BT, and is commonly known by its former name, British Telecom) is the privatised former British state telecommunications operator. ... AT&T Inc. ... Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. ... France Télécom (Euronext: FTE, NYSE: FTE) (often spelled France Telecom, without the accents, in non-French text) is the main telecommunication company in France. ... Reliance Communications (formerly Reliance Infocomm), along with Reliance Telecom and Flag Telecom, is part of Reliance Communications Ventures (RCoVL). ... Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) is Indias phone carrier for international calls. ... Logo BSNL or Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is Indias largest Communication Service Provider (CSP), and seventh largest in the world. ... Teleglobe is an international telco carrier. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. ... Reliance Communications (formerly Reliance Infocomm), along with Reliance Telecom and Flag Telecom, is part of Reliance Communications Ventures (RCoVL). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Not to be confused with L-3 Communications, a communications system company formed from the assets of the former Loral and Lockheed corporations before their merger. ... For other uses, see AOL (disambiguation). ... SAVVIS, Inc. ... XO Holdings, Inc. ...

See also

• Peering
• Trunking
• Switching
• Routing
• Backbone network
• Network service provider
• Root nameserver
• Mbone
• Internet2
• Tier 1 network

Peering is voluntary interconnection of administratively separate Internet networks for the purpose of exchanging traffic between the customers of each network. ... // Main article: Link aggregation In computer networking, trunking defines using multiple network cables or ports in parallel to increase the link speed beyond the limits of any one single cable or port. ... // Switching technologies are crucial to the new network design. ... This article is about routing (or routeing) in computer networks. ... A backbone network is the part of a hierarchical network that occupies the top level of that hierarchy: it connects to nothing but itself, or nodes at lower levels in the hierarchy. ... A network service provider (NSP) is a business or organization that sells bandwidth or network access by providing direct backbone access to the Internet and usually access to its network access points (NAPs). ... The AMS-IX mirror of the K root-server. ... Mbone (short for multicast backbone) is an experimental backbone for IP Multicast traffic across the Internet. ... A Tier 1 Network is an IP network (typically but not necessarily an Internet Service Provider) which connects to the entire Internet solely via Settlement Free Interconnection, commonly known as peering. ...

External links

• Russ Haynal's ISP Page
• Internet backbone maps
• BT Infonet, Internet backbone network maps
• Information Aesthetics, Internet backbone map
• Cybertelecom :: Federal Internet Backbone Policy
• Automatically generated backbone map of the Internet
• An Atlas of Cyberspaces - ISP Backbone Maps
• TeliaSonera's backbone map