Samsung Galaxy I7500 :: Fastboot - Where Is It And How Do You Make It Work?

I have heard many many many references to 'fastboot' it's obvious it's on the phone, but every time I look at a rooting or firmware update guide, it seems to imply that it's part of the android sdk. 'just go into the tools folder then run fastboot command filename.ext'But fastboot.exe, fastboot.com, fastboot.bat, fastboot.msi. any thing that would cause a command called 'fastboot' to run out of that folder does not exist in the android sdk.So where is fastboot coming from on the pc side of things. where specifically is this component or program gained? should it be in the sdk? I've installed every release of it, it's not in any of them.This lack of 'fastboot' on the pc side of things is the only thing that's stopping me at this point.Where is this fabled, and seemingly non existent fastboot application?