# Understanding the difference between client and source in packetbeat

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/understanding-the-difference-between-client-and-source-in-packetbeat/321430>\
**Category:** Beats\
**Tags:** packetbeat\
**Created:** [December 16, 2022, 8:08pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/understanding-the-difference-between-client-and-source-in-packetbeat/321430 "2022-12-16T20:08:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![learningelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/958977/32.png) [@learningelastic](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/learningelastic)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 8:08pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/understanding-the-difference-between-client-and-source-in-packetbeat/321430/1 "2022-12-16T20:08:10Z")

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I'm new to packetbeat and I just got it up and working. When I queried for some data, I noticed situations where the `client.geo.country_iso_code` field did not the same information as the `source.geo.country_iso_code` field. See this screenshot below:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/7/d/7ddcae9532a239ef42f4ad18c5e266d1a93d5059.png)

I don't think I have a good grasp of what the difference is between `client` and `source` after reading the documentation:

> **[ECS fields | Packetbeat Reference \[8.5\] | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/packetbeat/current/exported-fields-ecs.html#_client)**

> **[ECS fields | Packetbeat Reference \[8.5\] | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/packetbeat/current/exported-fields-ecs.html#_source)**

My current grasp of the situation is that the client initiates the network connection and the source sends the data over a protocol. But why would the client and sender ever be two different things?

And likewise, why would the `destination` and `host` ever be different from each other?

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 10:09pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/understanding-the-difference-between-client-and-source-in-packetbeat/321430/2 "2023-01-13T22:09:06Z")

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