1. < messaging > One point-to-point transmission in a series required to get a message from point A to point B on a store and forward network. On such networks (including UUCPNET and FidoNet ), an important inter-machine metric is the hop count of the shortest path between them. This can be more significant than their geographical separation.
Each exclamation mark in a bang path represents one hop.
2. One direct host-to-host connection forming part of the route between two hosts in a routed network such as the Internet . Some protocols place an upper limit on the hop count in order to detect routing loops.
3. To log in to a remote computer, especially via rlogin or telnet . "I'll hop over to foovax to FTP that."
[ Jargon File ]
(1997-06-25)