Mnemonic Port Numbers Review

General Memory-Building Strategy

• Instructor emphasizes mnemonics + active quizzing to make “hard-to-remember” port numbers stick.

• Recommends:

  • A YouTube-shorts playlist (very rapid micro-reviews of each port).

  • Self-made or instructor-provided quizzes on AtlanticJobs.com (CompTIA/Network+ course in progress).

  • Creating your own stories if the supplied ones do not click—personal relevance boosts retention.

• Ethical / practical note: fabricate stories for study, but never vandalize real Wikipedia pages; demo edits were done locally with HTML/CSS only.

$110$ – POP3 (Post Office Protocol v3)

• Mnemonic: “Grandpa POP is a 110-year-old super-centenarian who only checks email—no texting.”

  • POP ⇢ “Pop (Grandpa)” ; 110 ⇢ his age.

  • Reinforces the concept that POP3 is a receiving protocol (downloads mail, doesn’t send).

• Practical significance:

  • Used by legacy email clients; largely replaced by IMAP but still testable on CompTIA/CCNA.

$25$ – SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

• Mnemonic #1: “A quarter (25 ¢) buys you a stamp to send physical mail.”

• Mnemonic #2: “Sally ships 25 packages at the post office every day.”

• Key detail: SMTP handles sending email, not retrieval.

$80$ – HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)

• Mnemonic: “The number 80 looks like a sideways Ghost-face mask. Hackers love it because it’s unencrypted.”

• Significance:

  • Clear-text web traffic; easy target for packet-sniffing with Wireshark.

$23$ – Telnet

• Mnemonic: “Michael Jordan (#23) takes it to the net → Tel-net.”

• Concept: Telnet provides plaintext remote shells; superseded by SSH for security.

$22$ – SSH (Secure Shell)

• Rapid-fire list at the end included $22$ even though no story given. Remember: SSH is “Telnet but encrypted,” living on the very next number.

$20$ and $21$ – FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

• Mnemonic: “At ages 20 & 21 most people just party, not worry about transferring files.”

  • $20$ → Data channel (active mode).

  • $21$ → Control / command channel (user AUTH, LIST, GET, PUT).

• Key nuance: Don’t dive too deep on active vs. passive for entry-level exams; just associate both ports with FTP.

$137 – 139$ – NetBIOS

• Mnemonic: An old Australian fisherman boasts he once netted 137–139 fish with one throw of his NET.

  • “Marine BIOlogy in his NET” → NetBIOS.

• Technical breakdown:

  • $137$: Name service.

  • $138$: Datagram service.

  • $139$: Session service.

$445$ – SMB (Server Message Block / CIFS)

• Mnemonic Set A: “Friend always shows up to parties with Colt-45s (malt liquor).” 45 → 445.

• Mnemonic Set B: “Two double-barrel pistols = 4 barrels. Bring 4-4-5 to send a message in a gunfight.”

• Use-case: Windows file & printer sharing over TCP/IP (modern alternative to NetBIOS sessions).

$123$ – NTP (Network Time Protocol)

• Mnemonic: “The clock ticks 1-2-3.”

• Importance: Synchronizes system clocks; critical for Kerberos, logs, certificates, etc.

$53$ – DNS (Domain Name System)

• Mnemonic: “DO Not use Salt after 53; doctor’s orders once you’re over 50.”

• Roles:

  • UDP $53$ for typical queries.

  • TCP $53$ for zone transfers / larger payloads.

$69$ – TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol)

• Mnemonic story: Hitchhiking the long Highway 69 (King’s Highway in Canada / I-69 in U.S.); doing questionable favors to get rides—“trivial” but risky.

• Facts:

  • UDP-based, no authentication; used for PXE boot, network devices flashing firmware.

$995$ – POP3 over SSL/TLS (POP3S)

• Mnemonic: Fake 1995 pizza-lobby email hack of Bill Clinton.

  • Year ’95 → port 995 ; pizza email → POP3.

• Exam angle: Occasionally surfaces as “secure POP3.”

Supporting Tools & Resources Mentioned

• YouTube Shorts Playlist: Rapid mnemonic recaps.

• LandTechJobs.com “CompTIA Network+ / Number+” course.

  • Contains all exam-objective ports, extra mnemonics, and interactive quizzes.

• Advice: Edit HTML locally for fake wiki stories; don’t push to live Wikipedia (ethical consideration).

Quick Reference Cheat Sheet (all numbers in one glance)

• $20/21$ – FTP (data / control)

• $22$ – SSH

• $23$ – Telnet

• $25$ – SMTP

• $53$ – DNS

• $69$ – TFTP

• $80$ – HTTP

• $110$ – POP3

• $123$ – NTP

• $137 \, 138 \, 139$ – NetBIOS trio

• $445$ – SMB (CIFS)

• $995$ – POP3 over SSL

Tip: Turn each story into a 10-second mental “movie.” Recall speed during an exam proves the mnemonic worked. Good luck!