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FriedMule t1_j1yt2qp wrote

Imagine a giant mid evil city with walls all around and some ports that either are open, closed, locked and even hidden.

Some of these ports are dedicated to particular functions. Port 80 in for the normal internet, but there are also a lot of other ports.

Configuration a port would be like setting up what it shall be used for, if it needs to be from open and right up to hidden and locked.

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Brianprokpo456 OP t1_j1yura6 wrote

Ok thanks, but are they discrete or there can exist as many ports as can be defined in the computer?

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Schnutzel t1_j1yv3pi wrote

A port is a 16-bit number, i.e. from 0 to 65535.

0 is a special number (so not actually used as a port) and certain ports are commonly used by certain protocols (for example 80 is for HTTP, 443 for HTTPS, 22 for SSH), but most are free for use.

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