What is 127.0.0.1

[ZeDaX]

Hi,
I had connected a new Ethernet card to my Windows XP computer. The network adapter is installed properly with no issues. I had also connected my internet connection through it which is working fine. The manual of the Ethernet card says that to ping on 127.0.0.1 for checking the card working. What is 127.0.0.1. Is this the ip address or something of the card. My system IP address is different. Does anyone knows about this in details. Thanks in advance.

[Snake08]

It is a type of special purpose IP address which is ib every computer. It is a loopback address of a computer. This tool is used by network tools to get an access to the local TCP/IP network resources of a computer. A message send to this IP address does not goes some where outside on the network but it is re-routed back on the same ip address. They are reserved for private use.

[Zachary]

The 127.0.0.1 is a type of special Internet Protocol address. This usually points back to your own computer. This is also called as local host or loopback address. This IP is reserved for each computer. The local host is also referred to My Computer. It is mainly used for testing purpose. So if you want to test your network card and then just ping this IP address. If you get proper results then it is working fine.

[Big Fish]

The IP address 127.0.0.1 is used to check out that the Network card installed in a computer is working fine or not. All the drivers and other tools related to the Network card is installed properly. It is a reserved IP address of the host computer. The IP address revert back the result on the same computer. It is not related to a distant server or any other system on the network. In command prompt you can simply type ping 127.0.0.1 -t and check out the performance of the corresponding network card.

[grcunning]

Unfortunately, some of this advice is wrong. The loopback address, 127.0.0.1 is only used to test whether or not TCP/IP is working on the computer, this is software only. If you install TCP/IP and have no network card installed at all, it will still work (try it!). The packet never reaches lower than the network layer(layer 3), and so never reaches the physical layer which actually puts the bits on the line.
If you want to test to see that the card is properly installed(physically and the driver), ping the actual address assigned to the card (like 192.168.x.x, substitute in the actual values). If this works, the card is functioning and the driver is installed. Then try to ping another host on the network(if you are at home, ping your router). If pinging the loopback works, and pinging the assigned address works, but pinging another host doesn't, check for a cable problem. If the loopback works but the assigned address doesn't, check device manager to see that your nic's driver is installed correctly.

[Wahib]

127.0.0.1 is the standard IP address used for a loopback network connection.127.0.0.1 is used whenever a program needs to access a network service running on the same computer as itself.