1. Overview

All of us are using the Web or Internet on a daily basis. But, does everyone know how it works?

It may look silly, but it's very important to understand.

In this article let's try to figure out how the web works.

2. Content

Before we try to understand how the web works, we have to understand some keywords.

  • Resource
  • Web Browser
  • Web Server
  • DNS Server

2.1. Resource

It's anything that can be obtained from the Internet. It can be a web page, simple text, picture, video, data from a database, web service, etc.,

2.2. Web Browser

It's like any other software application, that is used to access websites and their contents. We all use it on a daily basis.

Don't get confused. It's definitely not a search engine. They are different.

Web Browser is something that we use to access websites and their contents based on the domain.

But, the search engine is a website that provides links to other websites based on a search string.

Example: Chrome is a web browser and Google is a search engine.

2.3. Web Server

It's like a computer that hosts websites, which store, process and deliver resources to the users.

A web browser is one way of accessing such hosted content.

Usually, the communication happens through HTTP and HTTPS.

2.4. DNS Server

Are you hearing this keyword for the first time? That's fine, let's try to figure out what it is.

DNS stands for Domain Name System, which is more like a phonebook or a dictionary of all the domains available on the internet, where each domain is mapped to one or more IP addresses.

As we all know, a domain is a human-readable address of a website, and it's not the actual or official address.

An IP address is an actual address, which is unique and very much needed to access a particular website or its resources.

2.5. How does the Web or the Internet works?

With all the above keywords discussed and understood, let's now try to understand how the Web or the Internet works.

  • The user enters the URL of a website using a web browser
  • Then, the browser contacts the DNS Server to identify the actual IP address of the website, and then sends an HTTP or HTTPS request to the Web Server on that IP address that hosts the website
  • When the Web Server receives a request, it processes the request and sends the response back to the user where the request is triggered. In this case, the web browser.

The response can be in any form. It can be a simple text, picture, video, or even a web page.

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3. Conclusion

We should be able to understand the keywords involved, how the web works, and how significant each keyword is when we talk about the web or the internet.

We hope we are able to put together enough details to explain how the Web or Internet works.