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Backbone
Each Internet Service Provider has major high-speed lines or a series of connections that forms their network infrastructure. These connections could be viewed as motorways for Internet traffic with junctions where traffic can join the rest of the network. The size (bandwidth) of connections vary depending on the size of the provider.
See Also:Network

Backhaul
The term used to describe how switches get data to the backbone network.

Bandwidth
In simplistic terms, bandwidth is the amount of information travelling through a single channel at any one moment in time.

Baud Rate
Speed at which data travels through a modem, measured in bps (bits per second). Most modems today range from 2400 to over 50,000 bps.

BBS
(Bulletin Board System) a computer system usually run by local users making files available for downloading and setting up electronic discussion forums.

Binary
Binary data is a direct representation of the bits stored in RAM on a computer. Much more compact and accurate than ASCII.

Bit
(Binary DigIT) the smallest unit of computerized data, comprising of either a 1 or 0. A combination of bits can indicate an alphabetic character, a numeric digit, or perform a signaling, switching or other function. Bandwidth is usally measured in bits-per-second.
See Also:Bps

Body
In E-mail terms, the part of the message containing the most textual content, sandwiched between the Header and the Signature.

Bookmark
Virtual bookmarks work pretty much the same as the real ones. They record a URL or web page to enable you to refer back to at a later date.
See Also:Favorite

Bps
(Bits Per Second) speed at which data transfer is measured.
See Also:Mbps, Gbps

Broadband
The provision of multiple channels of information, over a single link which supports high speed through-put of data, typically using some form of frequency or wave-division multiplexing. The information could consist of voice, video or computer data.
See Also:DSL

Browser
(Often called a 'Web Browser') allows the user to search the World Wide Web and other Internet facilities using a Graphical User Interface. Popular examples are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.
See Also:Mozilla, Opera

Byte
A unit of data, generally formed from 8 bits. Example: 01101010

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