by Kevin Spark
Every day, millions of people around the world seamlessly visit website after website. But how does it work? This process, which seems simple and straightforward, actually requires a series of transactions.
1. What is the IP Address?
Before you can contact a website, you need to know its IP address. An IP address is like a phone number – it is a number that allows each computer connected to the internet to be uniquely identified. When you type “www.google.com,” your computer uses the domain name service (DNS) to find out the IP address of the Google website. DNS servers contain databases of all websites and their corresponding IP addresses. They are often run by Internet Service Providers (ISP), and are frequently updated. Once your computer has the IP address of the target website, it is ready to contact it.
2. Connect to the website.
Your computer initiates the connection to the website through a 3-step process. First, your computer sends a connection packet. A packet is a chunk of data that is specially formatted for whatever specific network task is being accomplished. When the website receives the “connect” packet, it responds with an “acknowledge” packet, telling your computer that it’s ready to connect. Your computer then responds with its own “acknowledge” packet, confirming that the connection has been formed. But how did your computer packets know how to get to the destination website?
3. Find a route to the website.
Once the packets have been stamped with an IP address (from the DNS server), they are sent to the closest network gateway, usually in the form of a router. If your computer is connected to a corporate intranet, there are often several routers that are functioning locally – none of them actually touch the internet. If you are using a wireless network at home, you likely have a wireless router. Once your computer sends the packet to this router, it is the router’s job to keep sending the packet up the chain. It sends the packet to your ISP. The ISP router checks to see if the website you are trying to contact is on its network. If not, it sends the packet to another router with broader coverage. Eventually, after traversing various networks, the packet reaches a router that serves the targeted website. That router sends your packet to the website, and a connection is formed.
4. Browse the website.
Now that the route has been discovered and a connection formed, your computer and the target website can communicate freely. The website sends the data for its home page, and your web browser then displays the page for you. When you click a link, your computer sends a request for the new page you want to see, and the website acknowledges the request and sends the new data.
Despite the fairly complicated process, all of this is usually done in just a few seconds, making it so convenient, you never have to think about it. Surf on!
Tags: Internet