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69. Basic Networking Concepts (IP, Ports, DNS)

Linux Basics: From Zero to CLI Hero

Networking Fundamentals

IP Addresses

An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique numerical label assigned to every device connected to a network.

  • IPv4: (e.g., 192.168.1.10)
  • IPv6: (e.g., fe80::...)
  • Loopback Address (localhost): 127.0.0.1 (used for communication within the local machine).

Ports

Ports are communication endpoints used by software applications to communicate over a network. A port is a number between 1 and 65535.

PortPurpose
22SSH (Secure Shell)
80HTTP (Web Traffic)
443HTTPS (Secure Web Traffic)
21FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

DNS (Domain Name System)

DNS translates human-readable domain names (like google.com) into numerical IP addresses. Linux systems use the file /etc/resolv.conf to list DNS servers.