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Glossary Networking

Localhost

Localhost is the standard name for "this computer": a loopback address that sends network traffic back to your own machine.

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In more detail

It resolves to 127.0.0.1 in IPv4 and ::1 in IPv6, and the whole 127.0.0.0/8 block is reserved for loopback. Developers run test servers on localhost, for example http://localhost:3000, so nobody else on the network can reach them.

See also

  • Glossary IP address
    An IP address is the number that identifies a device on a network so that data can be sent to it.
  • Glossary Port
    A port is a number from 0 to 65535 that tells a computer which program or service an incoming network connection is for.
  • Cheat sheet CIDR and Subnet Mask Cheat Sheet
    Every IPv4 prefix from /8 to /32 with its subnet mask, wildcard mask, address count and usable hosts.
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