Okuzeka
Software Engineering vocabulary · APIs, Networking and Security

Host

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/həʊst/nounCommon term

In software engineering, host means: Any device on a network that has an IP address and sends or receives data, such as a computer, server, phone or printer.

In Turkish: host, uç cihaz, ana bilgisayar

How it is used

Used in technical documents, commands and error messages: 'host unreachable', 'host not found', the number of hosts in a subnet. In server work 'host' can also mean the physical machine that runs virtual machines, so check the context.

Example sentences

  1. A /26 subnet gives you 62 usable host addresses.

  2. The scan found 140 active hosts on the office network.

Common collocations

  • host address
  • destination host unreachable
  • remote host
  • number of hosts
  • IP addressA unique numerical label given to every device on an IP network so that data can be sent to it, for example 192.168.1.20 in IPv4.
  • networkA group of computers, phones and other devices that are connected by cables or radio signals so that they can exchange data and share resources.
  • subnetA smaller range of IP addresses inside a larger network such as a VPC, used to group resources and control which of them can reach the internet.
  • DNSDomain Name System: the internet's directory that translates domain names like example.com into the IP addresses of servers.
  • pingTo send someone a short message, usually in team chat, to ask a question, remind them or get their attention. Technically, also to test whether a server can be reached.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: APIs, Networking and Security

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: