A computer participating in networks that use the Internet protocol suite may also be called an IP host.
Network hosts that participate in applications that use the client–server model of computing are classified as server or client systems.
RFC 871 defines a host as a general-purpose computer system connected to a communications network for "... the purpose of achieving resource sharing amongst the participating operating systems..."[2] While the ARPANET was being developed, computers connected to the network were typically mainframe computer systems that could be accessed from dumb terminals connected via serial ports.
User computers connected to the ARPANET at a packet-switching node were considered hosts.
Typically a server accepts connections from clients who request a service function.