Port

Tags

networking

Is an access number often used alongside an address to indicate an end-point for a network connection.

A port isn't a distinct host, instead its a number on a host that can be bound to and sent data distinct from any other ports. This allows computers to develop standards over what sort of data they can expect when a port is open, listening, for a connection (example port 22 is commonly used for SSH connections).

Warn: On UNIX only processes with root access can bind to ports less than 1024. Any process can listen on ports above 1024.