{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34537"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34537","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Service identification in TCP/IP : well-known versus random port numbers","abstract":"The sixteen-bit well-known port number is often overlooked as a network identifier in Internet communications. Its purpose at the most fundamental level is only to demultiplex flows of traffic. Several unintended uses of the port number evolved from associating services with a list of well-known port numbers. This thesis documents those unintended consequences in an effort to describe the port number's influence on Internet players from ISPs to application developers and individual users. Proposals and examples of moving away from well-known port numbers to randomly assigned ones are then presented, with analysis of impacts on the political and economic systems on which Internet communication is dependent.","abstract_html":"The sixteen-bit well-known port number is often overlooked as a network identifier in Internet communications. Its purpose at the most fundamental level is only to demultiplex flows of traffic. Several unintended uses of the port number evolved from associating services with a list of well-known port numbers. This thesis documents those unintended consequences in an effort to describe the port number's influence on Internet players from ISPs to application developers and individual users. Proposals and examples of moving away from well-known port numbers to randomly assigned ones are then presented, with analysis of impacts on the political and economic systems on which Internet communication is dependent.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Masiello, Elizabeth"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["David D. Clark."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2005,"date_issued":"2005","date_published":"2005","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:17Z","subjects":["Technology and Policy Program."],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. 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Several unintended uses of the port number evolved from associating services with a list of well-known port numbers. This thesis documents those unintended consequences in an effort to describe the port number's influence on Internet players from ISPs to application developers and individual users. Proposals and examples of moving away from well-known port numbers to randomly assigned ones are then presented, with analysis of impacts on the political and economic systems on which Internet communication is dependent."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["S.M."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Service identification in TCP/IP : well-known versus random port numbers"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["David D. Clark."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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This thesis documents those unintended consequences in an effort to describe the port number's influence on Internet players from ISPs to application developers and individual users. Proposals and examples of moving away from well-known port numbers to randomly assigned ones are then presented, with analysis of impacts on the political and economic systems on which Internet communication is dependent."],"dc:description.degree":["S.M."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34537"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. 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