Commonly Used Ports

What are TCP and UDP Ports?

Protocol is a set of instructions that are to be followed. Likewise, there are certain instructions that are to be followed in communication of data over internet. These set of instructions are called protocols used in the internet services. Basically, there are two types of protocols used over the internet, viz., TCP and UDP. TCP stands for transmission control protocol and UDP stands for user datagram protocol. Now, you must be wondering, why are these protocols required in simple communication over the Internet! The answer to this question is that the communication must be safe, quick and reliable. In TCP, the data transfer from one computer to another is done directly. To be more precise, the two devices intended to start a conversation connect to each other and start transferring data. These two computers or devices remain connected throughout the period of transfer and get disconnected after the transfer of data is completed. On the other hand in UDP, the data is converted into data packets and are sent over the internet. There is no direct connection between the two devices intended to communicate. The UDP transfer of data does not guarantee a reliable transfer of data. The communication in UDP is slower as compared to the TCP.

Every computer and device on the internet has its own IP address. This IP address is unique to every computer and device. When some information is sent on the internet, the IP address acts as an address of each of the device. The data is sent with the IP address of the receiver device or computer and the data is accepted with the help of TCP or UDP ports. When information is sent over the internet, the IP address and the port of the receiver device are the additional information sent. These ports are called TCP/IP ports. There are certain commonly used ports over the internet. The IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) has registered all the TCP/IP port numbers. Here we are going to discuss some of the commonly used computer networking ports.

Commonly Used Port Numbers

Here is a commonly used ports list, which includes all the commonly used ports for transferring information over the internet.

Keywords	Protocols Used	Port Number	Description
tcpmux	TCP, UDP	1	TCP port service multiplexer
echo	TCP, UDP	7	Echo
discard	TCP, UDP	9	Discard
msp	TCP, UDP	18	Message Send Protocol
ftp	TCP, UDP	21	File transfer protocol
ssh	TCP, UDP	22	Remote login protocol
telnet	TCP, UDP	23	Telnet
smtp	TCP, UDP	25	Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
domian	TCP, UDP	53	Domain Name Sever
www	TCP, UDP	80	World Wide Web or also known as HTTP
rtelnet	TCP, UDP	107	Remote Telnet Services
pop 2	TCP, UDP	109	Post Office Protocol 2
pop 3	TCP, UDP	110	Post Office Protocol 3
sftp	TCP, UDP	115	Simple File Transfer Protocol
snmp	TCP, UDP	161	Simple Network Management Protocol
bgp	TCP, UDP	179	Border Gateway Protocol

The port numbers used in the data communication do not distinguish the device identity, but are used to specify the service that is to be provided. For example, HTTP is used for web services or FTP for file transfer. Thus, the port indicates the type of service provided. This was all about the TCP/IP ports and the table provides some of the commonly used ports.