Computer Hardware Terms, Glossary and Dictionary

In pure hardware, socket is a connecting place or junction for electric wires, plugs and light bulbs. In TCP/IP communication, sockets are the combination of IP address plus corresponding TCP/UDP port numbers. Every pair of connected socket has a source IP/port and a destination IP/port. Users of Internet applications are normally aware of all except the local port number that is allocated when connection is established and is almost entirely arbitrary unlike the well-known port numbers associated with popular applications.

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socket