What does port forwarding have to do with home hosting?¶

Port forwarding is a router rule that directs selected incoming internet traffic to a particular device and service inside the private network.

From public connection to internal server¶

Devices in a home usually use private addresses that cannot be contacted directly from the internet. The router holds the public address. A rule might say: traffic arriving on public TCP port 443 should be sent to private address 192.168.1.24 on port 443.

The rule works like reception forwarding calls for one public number to a particular extension.

This can expose a website, remote-access service, camera or other application. The public IP identifies the connection, while the forwarding rule may identify the intended internal destination.

Relevant router data may include the public and internal ports, private IP, device name or hardware address, rule label, creation time and administrator activity. DHCP records can help establish which device held the private address, because internal addresses may also change.

A rule does not prove that the named device actually ran the service throughout the period, or who created and used it. Router access may be shared, automated through UPnP, remotely managed or compromised.