[Outages-discussion] Internet "backbone"

[Dale Amon]

On Fri, Nov 18, 2011 at 05:09:51PM -0500, Keegan Holley wrote:
> This is one of those buzzwords the was never given a real definition, like
> the concept of tier I, II and III ISP's.  I can't recall ever using the
> term internet backbone in a sentence but it does help people who may not
> understand the specifics to describe the "big pipes" that carry their
> traffic.  This industry is full of buzzwords that are no longer accurate or
> never were.  I would say anyone that carries 30G or more of transit is as
> close to being a backbone provider as it gets.  It's true that just about
> anyone can peer with anyone else directly, but most talk through the large
> ISP's so I understand why some may still use the term.

Biggest reason for using the term? Habit. Some obsolete terms
are so ingrained, that like 'Class C' they will not change
until all of from the early days die off.