Project One: How the web works

I am really enjoying learning about the web and today I learn't just how the web actually works. The web really is an incredible invention and technology.

To begin with websites are basically just collections of files. When you publish a website you are putting a copy of your files in an online location for others to access. Sounds simple enough but there is a lot more to it.

The internet is a collection of smaller networks that all link together. Every computer connected to the internet is part of a network. Our computers are connected via a modem to a service provider for example Telecom or Telstra Clear. Once connected you become apart of the network and then your service provider is connected to larger networks. The internet is simple a network of networks. All the networks connect to each other. Network access points are what allows the networks to all link up.

Data/information is kept under control on the internet by 'routers'. Routers determine where to send information between one computer to another. They make sure that the data gets to its intended destination.

Every computer/device that is connected to the internet has an identifying number. This stands for IP address (Internet Protocol). This is a language that computers use to communicate over the internet. The IP address is converted to a web address to make it easier for us to understand and remember. An example www.witt.ac.nz. Web addresses have a system too. This system is called, Domain Name System (DNS). This system automatically maps the IP address to the text name web address. To view a web page DNS servers accept requests from programs to convert domain names to IP addresses.

Computers connected to the internet are one of two types of machines. Servers or clients. Servers are providing the service. Different types of servers include, web servers and email servers. An example of this that was given us is; when you are reading a document off the screen you are sitting in front of a client machine. When you connect to the page you want to read the web server finds the page you want and sends it to you. The page and its content is then downloaded to your machine, 'the client' where your browser then can render it onto the screen.

A browser is the program which allows easy access to view online content. An example of some browsers are Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer. The browser is reading and interpreting the code of the website files to then render/display the page of the website onto your screen.