![]() When the loopback interface is pinged, the data sent to it is returned back to the same device. This is also called self-referencing, or, perhaps more popular, ”ping”. They make up the overall system the engineers use when they want to make a computer send data packets to itself. ![]() Such an interface and the IPv4 address loopback work hand in hand. This is also known as a loopback virtual interface or a virtual network interface.Įngineers and developers use loopback interfaces to simulate network communications. When a computer communicates with itself, it does so via loopback interface. And thanks to that, testing of various applications and configurations can be done without affecting other devices on the network. The IPv4 loopback address is not routable, meaning that data sent to this address will never leave the device and will not be visible on any other network. When a device sends data to this address, the data is sent back to the same device. The most common IPv4 loopback address is 127.0.0.1. In other words, more than 16 million addresses are used for loopback purposes and mapped to localhosts. The IETF reserves the address block 127.0.0.0/8 (check our in-depth articles to better understand the CIDR/slash notation, IP classes, and subnetting). IPv4 loopback addresses are reserved according to standards brought by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). The IPv4 loopback address is a special IP that is used to refer to the localhost (your own computer). This is useful since you can test stuff and see how it behaves without the complications of network communication, security, or other external factors. Localhost allows you to run network-based software on your own computer without having to connect to another device. In other words, the localhost is the device that initiates the loopback. The localhost is another name for the computer or a device you are working on. This is the IPv4 loopback address that relates to the localhost. Every device needs a unique IP address to be able to communicate with other devices across networks.īut to simulate such a network without actually connecting to a real network, computers have a special address reserved for loopback. The loopback relies on a virtual network connection because it uses something called an IPv4 loopback address. In addition, loopback can be used to simulate a network connection without the device sending data to an actual network. Loopback is useful for testing and debugging, meaning network engineers can use it to check network connections, as well as different applications. It is a method of self-diagnosis, instead of communicating with other devices in a network. ![]() In computer networking, loopback describes a virtual network connection that allows a device to send and receive data to and from itself, hence the ‘loop’ idea.
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