What happens when you type “www.google.com” in the browser and hit enter?
The internet has become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Ever wondered about what unfolds when you type “https://www.google.com" into your browser’s address bar and hit enter?
In this post, we’ll delve into the inner workings of your request. What transpires behind the scenes when your fingertips initiate a seemingly simple action is a fascinating interaction between protocols and servers.
You’ve likely heard of servers—the digital houses storing the webpages, sites, and apps that enhance your online experience. Each server, like houses in your neighborhood, has a unique identifier: an IP (Internet Protocol) address.
Curious about what an IP address is? Think of it as your house address but in the vast online world. Just as your address helps people find your physical location, an IP address enables devices connected to the internet to communicate and locate each other. Every website, including the mighty “https://www.google.com," is mapped to an IP address, acting as a guidepost pointing to a server that might be miles or continents away.
So, what exactly happens when you type “https://www.google.com" into your browser and hit ENTER?
DNS Look-Up
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a crucial tool in converting human-readable web addresses into machine-readable IP addresses. It works by initiating a request to the DNS server, which searches its records for the IP address associated with the given domain name. Once the correct IP address is found, it is returned to the browser, allowing the browser to connect to the server hosting Google’s website. This process is the first step in the online request journey, ensuring the user’s web address is translated into a numeric language that the internet understands.
TCP/IP
Equipped with the acquired IP address, TCP/IP is a crucial protocol in Internet communication that ensures data exchange between devices and servers. It sets up a virtual circuit for data travel between your device and Google’s servers, ensuring accurate and dependable data delivery. TCP/IP manages the transmission of data packets, ensuring every packet arrives at the right address accurately. This makes internet communication fast and reliable. It’s like a diligent postal service, ensuring every packet arrives at the right address, making it a vital part of online experiences.
FIREWALL
A firewall is a security system that regulates internet traffic, filtering out harmful or unauthorized data packets while allowing legitimate ones to pass through. It acts as a digital bouncer, guarding the entrance to an online world, ensuring only trusted guests enter and protecting network resources from cyber threats.
Before your request to access Google’s website is accepted, it undergoes thorough scrutiny by the firewall to ensure it aligns with a predefined set of safety rules. This proactive measure reinforces the security posture of the network, mitigating potential risks and enhancing overall protection against malicious activities
HTTP/SSL
HTTP/SSL is a secure protocol used to protect sensitive online transactions like online banking and shopping. SSL certificates verify website authenticity. HTTP/SSL process encrypts data exchange between your browser and Google’s server, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of your data.
It encrypts data transmission between your browser and a server, preventing third-party eavesdropping.
When a web address starts with “https,” the “s” after “HTTP” indicates the website is secure. HTTPS acts as a digital bodyguard, ensuring online safety by encrypting data and protecting personal information like passwords and credit card details.
LOAD BALANCER
Google receives an inflow of traffic every second, it manages this immense traffic by using a load balancer as a traffic controller. It distributes incoming requests across multiple servers, preventing any one from getting overwhelmed and preventing crashes. This ensures smooth, uninterrupted access for users, preventing slowdowns or crashes, and keeping the internet running smoothly.
WEB SERVER
A web server stores and delivers static content for a website, including text, images, and videos. Your request gets to the Google server, and it is directed to a web server which serves the web page you requested for. It serves the requested webpage, such as “https://www.google.com." When searching through a browser, it stores and delivers the requested content, ensuring the website is always available and ready to serve.
APPLICATION SERVER
Web servers interact with the application server to serve the dynamic contents of your request. The application server aids in the execution of the complex and logical functionalities of your request.
The application server is the engine behind the scenes, processing your request, accessing vast databases, and executing complex algorithms to deliver relevant search results.
However, for a straightforward search query such as requesting Google's homepage, this step might not be necessary.
DATABASE
A databaseis any collection of data, or information, that is specially organized for rapid search and retrieval by a computer.
Google as a search engine is like a big library where you can find anything you desire. A database is a system that keeps track of all this information in an organized manner for easy retrieval.
For example, in the Google search bar if you search for “pictures of cats”, the database will retrieve information related to cats from its collection of web pages, images, videos, and other content stored within its system. It then presents you with a list of search results based on your query.
So, in essence, the database is like the brain of “https://www.google.com," storing and organizing all the information available on the website and quickly retrieving relevant data to provide you with accurate search results.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the moment you type “https://www.google.com,” you initiate a fascinating journey through multiple layers of technology seamlessly working together. From DNS resolution to TCP/IP communication, and from HTTP/SSL encryption to load balancing and database queries, each step is crucial in delivering the content you see in your browser.
Understanding this journey can deepen your appreciation for the complexity of the internet and the infrastructure that powers it. These processes, though complex, appear seamless as your request traverses through various stages before serving Google’s webpage.