Port

Definitions

1. A 16-bit number (0–65535) that identifies a specific process or service on a networked host, used by TCP and UDP to multiplex connections over a single IP address. Well-known ports include 80 (HTTP), 443 (HTTPS), and 5432 (PostgreSQL).

   In plain English: A number that acts like a door number on a computer, letting network traffic reach the right program — web servers typically use door 80 or 443.

   Example: "The API is running on port 8080 locally, but nginx reverse-proxies it to port 443 in production."

Related Terms

• DNS
• Load Balancer
• Service Mesh
• Server
• Network Interface
• Network Stack
• Proxy
• Proxy Server
• Router
• Socket
• Blue-Green
• Cloud Networking