What is a common reason for running an IRC server on a high-number port?

• A. It does not require elevated privileges.
• B. It increases security by default.
• C. It enables encryption.
• D. It avoids conflicts with well-known ports.

Answer: (D)

Ports distinguish different services, and the well-known ports (0–1023) are already assigned to common protocols. Running an IRC server on a high-number port avoids clashing with those reserved ports, so there’s less risk that another service is listening on the same port or that the server can’t start. Encryption isn’t tied to the port itself, and security isn’t inherently improved just by using a high port. A practical bonus is that binding to non-privileged ports (above 1024) often doesn’t require root privileges, but the primary reason in typical setups is to prevent conflicts with well-known ports.