Backbone - A high-speed line or series of connections that form a major pathway within a network

Backbone - A high-speed line or series of connections that form a major pathway within a network - the human bone-structure analogy being particularly apt, as failure of the backbone invariably causes problems with all associated bones. In an e-commerce context, the most common application of the term is when it refers to the main connection with the Internet as used by Internet service providers, with users coming across the term when web connections are not working due to 'problems with the backbone'.