We have seen different IP addresses for various purposes. The IP address 127.0.0.1 is one of the unique feature IP address that serves Ipv4 for the localhost. You can also call it a loopback network interface as it is a network of computers connected.
All the computers that are connected with this address can use it inter connectedly, but they cannot connect with other networks with this IP address as their real IP address.
To help computers overcome this communication problem, there is an additional 192.168.1.115 Address to communicate with other systems as their real IP address.
We can say that a computer uses 127.0.0.1 as their address but shows 192.168.1.115 as their real address while communicating with other devices that are not connected with them.
How is 127.0.0.1 different from the regular IP address?
You can send and receive files through regular IP addresses, but you cannot use 127.0.0.1 to send and receive data. You can only use it for special features like running page tests before deploying it.
How IP address 127.0.0.1 works?
When a computer system sends a message by TCP/IP, the used application sends the message to the IP address 127.0.0.1 that will redirect the intended message to the physical IP address. It will check all the messages individually before redirecting it to the TCP/IP stack.
How secure is 127.0.0.1?
TCP/IP checks all the messages send or received through this IP and block the messages that contain the loopback addresses. It helps in improving the security of the data shared through this address. Someone can not retrieve your data by disguising as a traffic signal.
Another aspect of security you get by using this IP address is that you will not need to disclose your physical IP address while receiving the data from any other network.
Localhost and IPv6 Loopback Addresses
Localhost itself describes that it is a network of locally-connected devices through 127.0.0.1.
They are used to simplify the complicated process by giving a name to all the host files. After this, the operating system will use the hostname in sending the messages and does not need to carry and numbers to distinguish it from others.
IPv6 address has the same work as of IPv4 and the same loopback concept. The only difference is that an IPv6 network is not limited to a range of Ip address.
127.0.0.1 vs. Other Special IP Addresses
Like other IP addresses, IPv4 has also reserved all the addresses in the range of 127.0.0.1.
127.0.0.1 is the main IP address of IPv4 and cannot be used by the networks.
However, Local area networks can use all the variables reserved by IPv4 to connect between the communications of the connected networks.
There is another particular IP address 0.0.0.0 that looks like 127.0.0.1, but they both have different functions.
You cannot use 0.0.0.0 for a loopback function, just the way you use 127.0.0.1.
How does 127.0.0.1 divide messages?
There are port numbers added to the IP addresses so that they can identify and divide the messages into pre-defined categories.
Marrium Akhtar
June 20, 2023
11 months ago