What happens when you go to a website? Interesting question. One would suppose that unicorn rainbow farts and fireworks happens inside your computer and then the website appears. Then, more satanic dark things happen when you decide to go to Google.com and search something. Unfortunately, more simpler things happen.
First things first, things to know before explaining how the Internet works:
- The internet is essentially a wire.
- Servers are computers that store webpage files. These computers are connected directly to the internet.
- Each server has a designated and unique IP address. This is similar to a phone number, but we give them a website name, or domain.
- Our personal computers are not servers because they aren't directly connected to the internet. Our personal computers are called clients and are connected indirectly to the internet via and internet service provider ("ISP").
Going to a website:
- When you turn on your computer and open your browser and type in google.com, what happens on your computer? Well, the first thing that happens is your computer goes through an ISP, which indirectly connects you to the Internet. And as stated above, servers that hold data, files, and webpages are directly connected to the Internet. So, the ISP connects with the Internet and then with the server that holds google.com. Shazam, the website loads.
Emailing (Gmail to Yahoo):
- Your computer connects to the Internet via an IPS, which then connects you to the Gmail servers so you can compose an email. When you press the send button your email is squashed into a data package and the Gmail servers route it to the Yahoo servers. When your friend opens up her Yahoo email her computer connected via an IPS to the Internet and then to the Yahoo servers to retreive the email that you sent.