THE
IP ADDRESS 127.0.0.1 IS CALLED THE LOOPBACK ADDRESS OR LOCALHOST. IT IS A
SPECIAL ADDRESS THAT IS USED BY A COMPUTER TO COMMUNICATE WITH ITSELF. THIS
ADDRESS IS NOT ACCESSIBLE TO OTHER COMPUTERS ON THE NETWORK.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT USE 127.0.0.1:
WEB SERVERS
WHEN
YOU START A WEB SERVER ON YOUR COMPUTER, IT WILL LISTEN FOR REQUESTS ON THE
LOOPBACK ADDRESS. THIS ALLOWS YOU TO TEST YOUR WEBSITE LOCALLY BEFORE YOU
DEPLOY IT TO THE INTERNET.
DATABASES
WHEN
YOU CONNECT TO A DATABASE ON YOUR COMPUTER, YOU WILL TYPICALLY USE THE LOOPBACK
ADDRESS. THIS IS BECAUSE THE DATABASE IS RUNNING ON THE SAME COMPUTER AS YOUR
APPLICATION.
DEVELOPMENT TOOLS
MANY
DEVELOPMENT TOOLS, SUCH AS TEXT EDITORS AND IDES, USE THE LOOPBACK ADDRESS TO
RUN SCRIPTS AND APPLICATIONS LOCALLY.
TROUBLESHOOTING
IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH YOUR COMPUTER, YOU CAN OFTEN USE THE LOOPBACK ADDRESS TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. FOR EXAMPLE, YOU CAN USE THE PING COMMAND TO SEE IF YOUR COMPUTER CAN REACH ITSELF.
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