What is the difference between a Host and an End System?

greenesses · March 26, 2011, 6:59am

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I have a question about the difference between a host and an end system. I have read a textbook and I am still not clear about it. The textbook uses the terms hosts and end systems interchangeably. But what the actual meaning of host and end system. Could anyone explain me clearly?

Thank you.

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Burapha university, Thailand, Prof. Pusit, 321561 Computer network and data communication Technology

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Perderabo · March 26, 2011, 8:53am

In the old days, we only used the term "host" and it basically meant a computer connected to a network. Host is the term used in official TCP/IP documents. Before DNS we had a hosts file to list the hosts. In TCP/IP language, a "host" just sends and receives IP based packets. A "router" has multiple network connections and may forward TCP/IP from one connection to another. The TCP/IP documents list requirements for hosts and requirements for routers. One machine could be both a router and host and would need to fufill the requirements for both. So far this is the official TCP/IP documentation.

But here in the 21st century, things have evolved beyond what we envisioned when the Internet was first designed. My television has an IP address and is on the Internet. Ditto for my Blu-Ray player. People balk at calling a TV a "host". So the term End-System was devised. I believe that people who use the term End-System believe that "hosts" are a subset of "end-systems" and "hosts" mean traditional computers.

But I'm not competely sure I have it right. I'm old-school and I don't use "End System". It doesn't bother me to call my TV a host.

Neo · March 26, 2011, 9:04am

Wikipedia... End System

In networking jargon, the computers that are connected to the Internet are sometimes referred to as End Systems. They are labeled end systems because they sit at the edge of the Internet. The end user always interacts with the end systems.

The Internet�s end systems include some computers with which the end user does not interact. These include e-mail servers and web servers.

With the accelerating rate at which technology is advancing today, household items (such as toasters and refrigerators) as well as portable, handheld computers and digital cameras are all being connected to the Internet as end systems.

End systems that are connected to the Internet are also referred to as hosts; this is because they host (run) Internet applications such as a web browser or an email retrieval program.