interfaceloopbackwindows
Why is Microsoft Loopback interface called _loopback_ inteface?
RFC3330 states that a loopback interface is an interface with an IP address in the 127.0.0.0/8 address range.
Yet, when I enter the 127.x.x.x address in Microsoft Loopback TCP/IP settings, Windows returns an error.
What is its purpose?
This is "impossible" with Windows because the Microsoft TCP/IP stack does not have a loopback interface like BSD systems do. In fact, you can't see traffic that is sent from one Windows PC to any IP address that is bound to a local NIC, even if they're non loopback addresses.
Having said the above, you can use a tool that utilizes raw sockets in Windows to capture any and all traffic that is being moved around in the PC. An example of such a tool would be RawCap. You would then save the capture that RawCap takes and import it into Network Monitor to examine.
Here are some references that should get you going in the right direction:
Best Answer
Because Microsoft is treating it like a loopback physical interface. On
_loopback_you can assign any protocol stack Windows works with, including IPX (up to certain Windows versions) which isn't a TCP/IP protocol at all. The TCP/IP concept of aloopback interfacceis a logical concept, and 127.0.0.0/8 addresses apply to the local machine entirely; I don't believe you can explicitly bind them on any Windows adapter.