Why Is the Localhost IP 127.0.0.1?

Posted by Jason Fitzpatrick on How to geek See other posts from How to geek or by Jason Fitzpatrick
Published on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 20:00:34 GMT Indexed on 2012/10/09 21:46 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 216

Filed under:

superuser

|

networking

|

IP Address

|

Other

Geeks the world over know their local host as 127.0.0.1, but why is that specific address, of all available addresses, reserved for the local host? Read on to delve into the history of local hosts.

Image by GMPhoenix; available as wallpaper here.

Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-drive grouping of Q&A web sites.

7 Ways To Free Up Hard Disk Space On Windows

HTG Explains: How System Restore Works in Windows

HTG Explains: How Antivirus Software Works

© How to geek or respective owner

Related posts about superuser

What is Superuser.com acceptance rate?

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I apologize if this is stupid question or not for this board... But I keep seeing acceptance rate on this forum. What is this and how is it calculated? >>> More
superuser.com sandbox

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Is there a sandbox or demo area in superuser to test the sites functionality? >>> More
Easy line break removal from text fields and/or selections

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I'm looking for a tool that allows me to easily re-wrap text (i.e. remove line breaks, but not paragraph breaks from a text selection or the current text field that is being edited), and that works at least with text fields in my browser (Chrome) and on Windows. Bonus points for anything that works… >>> More
Easy text re-wrapping

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I'm looking for a tool that allows me to easily re-wrap text (i.e. remove line breaks, but not paragraph breaks from a text selection or a text field), and that works in my browser (Chrome) and on Windows. Bonus points for anything that works outside the browser, and that works in-place (i.e. that… >>> More
How to get rid of superuser`s password?

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
My father put a new superuser password on my laptop, and now i cant access my computer without him putting the password in. I am really helpless. How can i get rid of his superuser control? Can i delete or change the superuser thing? Please help!!!! >>> More

Related posts about networking

Networking stopped working on Ubuntu

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I installed Ubuntu 10.04 through the Wubi installer (Funny, I installed it today and thought I would have gotten 10.10). I had a network connection and everything was working fine. I rebooted my coumputer a couple of times and then suddenly, I could not connect to the network and when I click the… >>> More
Troubles with start up defenition of networking service in Ubuntu

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I use Ubuntu 12.04.1. I put attention that networking script starting in runlevel 0: user@comp:/etc/rc0.d$ chkconfig -l networking networking 0:on 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:off 6:off When I try to move it working to appropriate run levels I get error: user@comp:/etc/rc0… >>> More
Installing the Elgg Social Networking CMS

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
One Open Source CMS that stands out above the rest for small businesses and personal networks is the Elgg open source "social engine," which can be used to create social applications. Scott Clark shows you how to install and get started with this social networking CMS. >>> More
OAuth: Token-Based Authorization for the Social Networking Age

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
The OAuth token-based authorization system allows users to grant third-party access to their resources without sharing their usernames and passwords. It's perfect for the age of data scattered across many social networking sites. >>> More
OAuth: Token-Based Authorization for the Social Networking Age

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
The OAuth token-based authorization system allows users to grant third-party access to their resources without sharing their usernames and passwords. It's perfect for the age of data scattered across many social networking sites. >>> More