: Localhost (meaning this computer) is the standard hostname given to the address of the loopback network interface. Simply put, when a user sends data to localhost, they will receive their own

@BetL925

localhost (meaning this computer) is the standard hostname given to the address of the loopback network interface. Simply put, when a user sends data to localhost, they will receive their own data. This mechanism is useful for programmers to test their software during development.

On modern computer systems, localhost as a hostname translates to an IPv4 address in the 127.0.0.0/8 (loopback) net block, usually 127.0.0.1, or ::1 in IPv6.

For IPv4 communications, the virtual loopback interface of a computer system is normally assigned the address 127.0.0.1 with subnet mask 255.0.0.0. Depending on the specific operating system in use (notably in Linux and Microsoft Windows) and the routing mechanisms installed, this populates the routing table of the local system with an entry so that packets destined to any address from the 127.0.0.0/8 block would be routed internally to the network loopback device.

In IPv6, on the other hand, the loopback routing prefix ::1/128 consists of only one address ::1 (0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 in full notation, the address with a one at its least significant bit and zero otherwise) is explicitly defined as the loopback address, though additional addresses may be assigned as needed to the loopback interface by the host administrator.

Vote Up Vote Down

Login to post a comment!