Hosts

In computing, “Hosts” refers to devices or systems that are connected to a network and can communicate with other systems over that network. A host can be any end device, such as a computer, server, or networked device, that has an IP address and can send or receive data. In the context of the Internet, hosts play a vital role in the functionality of web services, applications, and data exchange.

The term is also used in the context of the Domain Name System (DNS), where “hosts” can refer to individual entries in a hosts file that map hostnames to IP addresses, allowing users to access devices using mnemonic names instead of numerical addresses. Essentially, a host is a fundamental component of networking that facilitates connectivity and communication between systems in a local or wide area network.