Difference between Socket and Port?

Last Updated : 23 Jul, 2024

Both Socket and Port are the terms used in Transport Layer. A port is a logical construct assigned to network processes so that they can be identified within the system. A socket is a combination of port and IP address. Port number can be represented by a single number ( example: 1028) on the other hand socket address can be represented by (tcp, hostname,1028). An incoming packet has a port number which is used to identify the process that needs to consume the packet. The lowest numbered 1024 port numbers are used for the most commonly used services. These ports are called the well-known ports. Higher-numbered ports are available for general use by applications and are known as ephemeral ports.

What is Socket?

A socket can be regarded as a basic network entity that allows devices to communicate over a network with the use of data. It is used in a communication chain and acts as an accepting and transmitting centre for data from the applications. Sockets are a way to enable programs to communicate with others using certain protocols like TCP or UDP. Sockets enable the connection between a client and a server to allow the two to send information to each other and the supported type of network communication.

Features of Socket

Bidirectional Communication: Enables the flow of data in both directions and at the same time.
Protocol Support: Can employ various protocols of communication such as TCP (stream), UDP (datagram), etc.
Port Management: Uses ports to differentiate the various channels of communication on a single device.
Connection Establishment: It also supports the connection-oriented transport layer and connectionless transport layer protocols.
Error Handling: It encompasses ways of handling errors and breakages of data transmission.

What is Port?

A port is an access point where protocols are used in a network to locate the particular processes or services within a device. It is several 16 bits that can have a value between 0 and 65535 and can be used for discriminating one application or service from others running on the same host. Ports enable the right forwarding of the network connections where the data packets are directed to the right location of the application.

Ports are categorized into three ranges:

Well-Known Ports (0-1023): Used for common services and/or protocols inclusive of; web (HTTP, 80), secure web (HTTP, 443), and File transfer (FTP, 21).
Registered Ports (1024-49151): Used in user processes or applications that may not be popular, but are cited with IANA to prevent competition with others.
Dynamic or Private Ports (49152-65535): This can be used by client applications for short-lived connections and are not required to be registered with Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

Features of Port

Unique Identification: A port provides a way to uniquely reference a specific process or service on a given piece of hardware so that, for example, transmitted data gets to where it needs to go.
Standardization: Standard ports are used for popular services and they are defined in such a manner that they can be used on different systems and networks.
Port Ranges: Categorized into popular, standard and dynamic categories to make it easier and more efficient to manage the network services.
Multiple Services: Enable more than one network service to operate on a single host by giving each service a unique port number.
Connection Management: Facilitate the processing of multiple connections at the same time, especially in client-server models.