What Are Ports in Networking?
Understanding Ports in Networking: A Comprehensive Guide with Examples and Case Studies In the world of networking, ports serve as essential communication endpoints. They enable devices to differentiate between multiple applications and services running on the same system. Whether you're troubleshooting network issues, designing a secure infrastructure, or simply learning the ropes of networking, understanding ports is critical. What Are Ports in Networking? In networking, a port is a logical address associated with a specific process or service on a device. Ports work alongside IP addresses to ensure data packets reach the correct application or service. For instance: IP Address : Identifies the device on the network. Port Number : Identifies the specific application or service. Together, they form a socket : IP Address:Port . For example, 192.168.1.10:80 refers to an HTTP web server running on a device with the IP 192.168.1.10 . Port Number Categories Port numbers range from ...