Port 6571

Windows Live FolderShare operated as a peer-to-peer file synchronization tool that allowed users to keep folders across different devices in sync automatically. This was achieved by installing the FolderShare client on each device, which communicated with Microsoft's servers to authenticate and coordinate the synchronization process.

The underlying protocol leveraged encrypted tokens for authentication but actual data transfer was mostly unencrypted and transmitted over direct peer-to-peer connections when possible, often navigating network address translation (NAT) and firewalls via relay servers if necessary. The port 6571 was utilized by FolderShare clients to facilitate this communication, though it is not a standardized or IANA-assigned port.

FolderShare has since been deprecated but during its operational period, it represented an early approach to cloud-based file management, bridging devices for near real-time file updates without relying solely on centralized server-based storage models.