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A host is a computer connected to a [[computer network]], such as to the [[Internet]].

==Server host==
The word originally referred to "terminal hosts," which were mainframe computers (or their software) providing time-shared services to several smaller or less capable devices, such as dumb terminals incapable of running their own services. A network host in this sense generally acts as a [[web server]], running application software to provide network services, such as serving up [[web page]]s.

==Client host==
However, any computer connected to the Internet may be considered a host. A home computer running an application, called a [[client]], that accesses services on a remote computer is also a host. This could for example be a personal computer running a [[web browser]] to access [[web server]]s on the Internet.

==IP address==
Every Internet host has one or more [[IP addresse]]s uniquely assigned to it, either manually by the computer system administrator, or automatically at start-up by means of the [[Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol]] (DHCP).

Every host is a physical network node, but some physical network devices such as modems and network switches that are not assigned host addresses are not considered hosts. Devices such as network printers and hardware routers that ''are'' assigned IP addresses are likewise sometimes not considered as hosts.

==See also==
*[[localhost]]

==External Links==
*Wikipedia article about network hosts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_%28network%29

[[Category:Webuser tools]]
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