How Does the Internet Work?
The Internet is a vast network that connects devices worldwide. We will explore the fundamental concepts behind its functioning by focusing on three key terms:
- Client: a device or application that initiates a request for services or data from a server over the Internet;
- Internet Service Provider (ISP): a company that provides access to the Internet and related services;
- Domain Name System (DNS): a system that translates human-readable domain names into numerical IP addresses that computers use to identify each other on the network.
What Happens When You Open a Website?
Let's use www.google.com as an example:
- Client β ISP: your browser sends a request to your Internet Service Provider. The ISP acts as your entry point to the Internet;
- DNS lookup: the ISP forwards your request to a DNS server.
DNS converts the domain name (
www.google.com) into the IP address of the Google web server; - Connecting to the server: once the IP address is known, your browser can contact the correct web server directly;
- Receiving data: the server sends back the required files (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, etc.);
- Rendering the webpage: your browser processes these files and displays the final webpage.
Although the Internet infrastructure is complex, accessing a website essentially comes down to one key step: finding the correct IP address through DNS.
Once that happens, the client and server can communicate normally.
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The Internet is a vast network that connects devices worldwide. We will explore the fundamental concepts behind its functioning by focusing on three key terms:
- Client: a device or application that initiates a request for services or data from a server over the Internet;
- Internet Service Provider (ISP): a company that provides access to the Internet and related services;
- Domain Name System (DNS): a system that translates human-readable domain names into numerical IP addresses that computers use to identify each other on the network.
What Happens When You Open a Website?
Let's use www.google.com as an example:
- Client β ISP: your browser sends a request to your Internet Service Provider. The ISP acts as your entry point to the Internet;
- DNS lookup: the ISP forwards your request to a DNS server.
DNS converts the domain name (
www.google.com) into the IP address of the Google web server; - Connecting to the server: once the IP address is known, your browser can contact the correct web server directly;
- Receiving data: the server sends back the required files (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, etc.);
- Rendering the webpage: your browser processes these files and displays the final webpage.
Although the Internet infrastructure is complex, accessing a website essentially comes down to one key step: finding the correct IP address through DNS.
Once that happens, the client and server can communicate normally.
Thanks for your feedback!
