a device built by a spider Spiders are invertebrate animals that produce silk, have eight legs and no wings

a good process-web analogue because it is primarily an information medium, useful to the spider only as long as it carries intricate signals reliably and accurately

an even better analogy, since its structure is concentric and is built around a core, the heart where the spider rests

A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web or cobweb (from the obsolete word "coppe", meaning "spider" http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/cobweb?view=uk) is a device built by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets. Not all spiders build webs to catch prey, and some do not build webs at all.