Port is a term used in computer networking. It is the virtual point where the network connection starts and ends. Ports are software-based and managed by the computer's operating system. Each port is associated with a specific service or process. We can recognize it as a logical construct used to specify a network service or a particular function at the software level.
Ports facilitate computers to differentiate among different kinds of traffic. The email traffic lands on a different port (port 25), and web traffic lands on a different (port 80) even though both reach the computer over the same network connection.
The incoming packet's headers define which port it should be forwarded. Each network request contains the port, IP address, and the network protocol to complete the request's destination network address.
There are two types of network ports on each computer.
A number is assigned to each port, so the ports are standardized and adopted across all the network-connected devices. Mostly each port is reserved for serving a specific protocol. For example, all Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) messages go to port 80.
The IP(Internet Protocol) address enables network communication on a specific device, and the port numbers specify the particular service to target on those devices. TCP and UDP headers indicate the port number to which network traffic is forwarded.
