TCP Sockets (or virtual ports) are used in TCP (and UDP) communication to identify unique end-to-end connections. They are called 'virtual ports' because a single physical connector can serve multiple connections. Each side of a socket connection uses its own port number, which does not change during the life of that connection. The port number and IP address together uniquely identify an endpoint. Together, two endpoints are considered a 'socket'.
Client-Server Pairings
All TCP and UDP communication has a source and destination, so there is always a source port and a destination port used for every socket connection.
A pair of fields within the TCP and UDP headers is used to track the source and destination Virtual Port Numbers used for that socket connection. Each field in the header is sixteen bits wide, so the value in the field can range from 0 - 65534. Each computer host uses a unique IP address, and also uses a unique source and destination port pairings to identify that specific connection between the two computers. Typically, when your computer connects to a website, it connects to the destination website on port 80 (the default port for HTTP / web traffic). A different source port on the local host is used. At one time, this port number was the next number above 1024 that wasn't already in use for another connection. For example, the first website connection would be set up on the source port of 1025 and the second connection on 1026. If the 1025 port is no longer needed and is closed, and another port is needed, then 1025 would be used.
Today, to defeat hackers, computer systems are choosing the source port at random as hackers can predict this behavior and hijack sessions by predicting new connections being opened.
Servers run network services and these services are bound to a virtual port and listen for communication on that virtual port. It is possible for multiple clients to connect to the same service and thus, use the same destination port number when connecting to the server. Because each client uses a unique IP address and port number, the server can keep track of up to 65534 connections per host.
However, whether the port number is the source, or the destination port depends on which side is currently transmitting information. The client and server asynchronously transmit and receiving information using these ports.
TCP Tutorials
- Introduction to Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
- TCP: A Reliable Protocol
- TCP Header
- TCP 3-Way Handshake
- TCP Connections
- TCP Sockets
- TCP Data Transfer/a>
- TCP Segmentation and Reassembly
- TCP Flow Control
- TCP Multiplexing
- TCP Precedence
- TCP Transport Stream Push (TCP Push)