The Internet has an infrastructure (the physical network's hardware and transmission protocols) that provides connectivity to computer users around the world. This infrastructure operates at various speeds, and has scaled a great deal since the time it began. A T1 backbone is one kind of network connection that is an aspect of the Internet's infrastructure.

Internet Infrastructure Basics

The global Internet network is, as its name implies, a global arrangement of "interlinked networks" that communicate with each other at various speeds using various types of cabling. The cabling ranges from cables that carry electrical data on a wire to cables that carry light data through glass tubes. The speeds of infrastructure are measured at various tiers, and one of these tiers is known as a T1.

Backbone Concept

The primary network infrastructure of the Internet is known as the "backbone" and all smaller networks branch off of this central trunk. Just as a tree branches from its trunk into smaller and smaller networks and provides water to its branches and leaves, the Internet also branches and data travels to smaller and smaller networks.

T1 Basics

The signaling standard known as T1, although originally designed for voice communication, is commonly used for providing Internet connectivity to businesses and organizations today. It operates at a speed of 1.544 megabits per second and provides a constant network link. An advantage of a T1 connection is that it can also provide voice communication in addition to Internet connectivity.

T1 History

The signaling standard of T1, also known as a T-Carrier or DS1, was originally designed by AT&T in the late 1950s. The standard was being researched as a way to expand the amount of voice communication that could be shared on a cable. The T1 standard enabled phone companies to use pulse-code modulation, a digital voice transmission, rather than the previous analog audio.

T1 Internet Backbone

While much of the primary infrastructure of the early Internet may have been based on T1 connections, there are much faster connections providing connectivity to most of the Internet backbone today. The backbone concept is relative, and the Internet backbone in more rural areas of the world may still be connected via a T1. The term may also be used to describe an organization's Internet connection.

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dcbnet.com: All You Wanted to Know About T1 But Were Afraid to Ask