Glossary

Note: these aren't the definitions you'd find in a book. If that's what you want, then go look in a book. These are they way I would explain the terms to someone. I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know of anything that's misleading or just plain wrong, but I'm not trying to be too strict. Life is tough enough. Sometimes, I may show some sarcasm, though.

MAE-West

And MAE-East. These are major connection points between ISPs. MAE-West is located in Santa Clara, CA; MAE-East is in Virginia. Most internet traffic goes through one of these major switching points. The exception is where one ISP has a direct connection to another ISP. (Called "peering".) That traffic doesn't have to go through MAE. MAE can be a bottleneck.