backbone

The bones, muscles, tendons, and other tissues that reach from the base of the skull to the tailbone. The backbone encloses the spinal cord and the fluid surrounding the spinal cord. Also called spinal column, spine, and vertebral column.

The top level of a hierarchical network. It is the main channel along which data is transferred.

The network connection between local area network (LAN) segments. [Exchange 5.5]

The high-traffic-density connectivity portion of any communications network. 2. In packet-switched networks, a primary forward-direction path traced sequentially through two or more major relay or switching stations. Note: In packet-switched networks, a backbone consists primarily of switches and interswitch trunks.