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A network host is a
computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
or other device connected to a
computer network A computer network is a collection of communicating computers and other devices, such as printers and smart phones. In order to communicate, the computers and devices must be connected by wired media like copper cables, optical fibers, or b ...
. A host may work as a server offering information resources, services, and applications to users or other hosts on the network. Hosts are assigned at least one network address. A computer participating in networks that use the
Internet protocol suite The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suite are ...
may also be called an IP host. Specifically, computers participating in the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
are called Internet hosts. Internet hosts and other IP hosts have one or more
IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface i ...
es assigned to their network interfaces. The addresses are configured either manually by an administrator, automatically at startup by means of the
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network protocol, network management protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for automatically assigning IP addresses and other communication parameters to devices connected to the netw ...
(DHCP), or by
stateless address autoconfiguration An Internet Protocol version 6 address (IPv6 address) is a numeric label that is used to identify and locate a network interface of a computer or a network node participating in a computer network using IPv6. IP addresses are included in the pa ...
methods. Network hosts that participate in applications that use the
client–server model The client–server model is a distributed application structure that partitions tasks or workloads between the providers of a resource or service, called servers, and service requesters, called clients. Often clients and servers communicate ov ...
of computing are classified as server or client systems. Network hosts may also function as nodes in
peer-to-peer Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of Node ...
applications, in which all nodes share and consume resources in an equipotent manner.


Origins

In
operating systems An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...
, the term ''terminal host'' denotes a
time-sharing In computing, time-sharing is the Concurrency (computer science), concurrent sharing of a computing resource among many tasks or users by giving each Process (computing), task or User (computing), user a small slice of CPU time, processing time. ...
computer or multi-user software providing services to
computer terminal A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that can be used for entering data into, and transcribing data from, a computer or a computing system. Most early computers only had a front panel to input or display ...
s, or a computer that provides services to smaller or less capable devices, such as a
mainframe computer A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise ...
serving
teletype A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations. Init ...
terminals or video terminals. Other examples of this architecture include a
telnet Telnet (sometimes stylized TELNET) is a client-server application protocol that provides access to virtual terminals of remote systems on local area networks or the Internet. It is a protocol for bidirectional 8-bit communications. Its main ...
host connected to a telnet server and an xhost connected to an X Window client. The term ''Internet host'' or just ''host'' is used in a number of
Request for Comments A Request for Comments (RFC) is a publication in a series from the principal technical development and standards-setting bodies for the Internet, most prominently the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). An RFC is authored by individuals or ...
(RFC) documents that define the Internet and its predecessor, the
ARPANET The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the first wide-area packet-switched network with distributed control and one of the first computer networks to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. Both technologies became the tec ...
. RFC 871 defines a host as a general-purpose computer system connected to a communications network for "... the purpose of achieving resource sharing amongst the participating operating systems..." While the ARPANET was being developed, computers connected to the network were typically mainframe computer systems that could be accessed from
dumb terminal A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that can be used for entering data into, and transcribing data from, a computer or a computing system. Most early computers only had a front panel to input or display ...
s connected via
serial port A serial port is a serial communication Interface (computing), interface through which information transfers in or out sequentially one bit at a time. This is in contrast to a parallel port, which communicates multiple bits simultaneously in Pa ...
s. Since these terminals did not host software or perform computations themselves, they were not considered ''hosts'' as they were not connected to any
IP network The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suite are ...
, and were not assigned IP addresses. User computers connected to the ARPANET at a packet-switching node were considered hosts.


Nodes, hosts, and servers

A
network node In networking, a node (, ‘knot’) is either a redistribution point or a communication endpoint within telecommunication networks. A physical network node is an electronic device that is attached to a network, and is capable of creating, rec ...
is any device participating in a network. A host is a node that participates in user applications, either as a server, client, or both. A server is a type of host that offers resources to the other hosts. Typically a server accepts connections from clients who request a service function. Every network host is a node, but not every network node is a host. Network infrastructure hardware, such as
modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...
s,
Ethernet hub An Ethernet hub, active hub, network hub, repeater hub, multiport repeater, or simply hub is a network hardware device for connecting multiple Ethernet devices together and making them act as a single network segment. It has multiple input/out ...
s, and
network switch A network switch (also called switching hub, bridging hub, Ethernet switch, and, by the IEEE, MAC bridge) is networking hardware that connects devices on a computer network by using packet switching to receive and forward data to the destinat ...
es are not directly or actively participating in application-level functions, and do not necessarily have a network address, and are not considered to be network hosts.


See also

* * * *


References


External links

*{{cite IETF , rfc=1122 , title=Requirements for Internet Hosts -- Communication Layers , editor=R. Braden , date=October 1989 Networking hardware