What are the functions of ports?

When interacting over the Internet, TCP and UDP protocols make connections, recompile data packages after the transfer, and then deliver them to applications on the recipient’s device. For this handover to work, the operating system must install and open the gateway for the transfer. Each door has a unique code number. After transmission, the receiving system uses the port number to determine where the data should be sent. The port numbers of the sender and receiver are always included in the data packet.

Ports are assigned sequential numbers from 0 to 65535. Some of these codes are standardized, meaning they are assigned to certain uses. Since code numbers are universally recognized and permanently assigned, these standard ports are also known as well-known ports. Registered ports are those that organizations or software developers have registered for their applications. Registration is handled by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). A diverse selection of dynamically assigned port numbers is also available. For example, when viewing websites, browsers use these ports. After that, the port number is free again.

Port number is a 16-bit numerical value that ranges from 0 to 65535. Well-known port (0-1023), registered port (1024-49151), and dynamic port is three types of port number space. (49152-65535).

These ports can be opened and used by software applications and operating system services to send and receive data over networks (LAN or WAN) that employ certain protocols (eg TCP, UDP).

For example, we use 80 for HTTP-web-based plain-text surfing and 443 for HTTPS-web-based encrypted websites in our daily work.

To conclude, a port is a logical form to identify system activities or various network services used to create local or network-based communications.