A socket enables network applications access to data on a data network. A computing device may have only one physical connection to a network, but many sockets may use the one physical connection simultaneously.
Winsock client and server applications provide endpoints of communication for network applications. A server application executes, then waits to receive a packet from the client application. Once communication is established, client and server applications can exchange data. A server application can handle multiple clients simultaneously.
Note Winsock client and server applications must be of the same socket type to communicate. They must both be using byte stream sockets that use TCP, or they must both be using unreliable datagram sockets that use UDP.