From Typing https://www.google.com to the Loaded Page

Have you ever asked yourself?what occurs when you enter "https://www.google.com" in your browser and hit Enter? While the process may seem straightforward, the perfect operation of the web is the result of a complicated series of interconnected events.

The numerous steps a web request goes through, from DNS resolution to the final rendering of a web page, will be discussed in this article.

1.??? DNS Request

The Domain Name System (DNS) resolution marks the start of the journey. When you enter a URL, your browser requests that a DNS server convert the human-readable domain name, such as "www.google.com," into an IP address that can be used to find the server's location online. Once resolved, your browser knows where to send the request.

2.??? TCP/IP

Your browser creates a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection using the IP address as the starting point. The reliability of the data's network transmission is the responsibility of TCP. In addition to performing handshakes and dividing the data into packets, it establishes a connection with the server.

Typical TCP/IP protocols comprise;

1)??? A web server and a web browser communicate via the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

2)??? HTTP Secure manages secure communication between a web server and a web browser (an http with an ’s’ — https, like in our URL).

3)??? File Transfer Protocol controls computer-to-computer file transfer.

3.??? FIREWALLS

Next, the request passes through a firewall, which acts as a security barrier. Firewalls filter incoming and outgoing network traffic, allowing only authorized data to pass. They are essential in safeguarding the network from potential threats and intrusions.

4.??? HTTPS/SSL

Your request is secured using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or its successor, Transport Layer Security (TLS), if you entered "https://" before the URL. Since the data being communicated between your browser and the server is encrypted, it is more difficult for attackers to intercept or manipulate the data.

So, before any more data is transferred, an SSL handshake process is performed at the beginning of connection between your computer and https://www.google.com.

5.??? LOAD-BALANCER

We all do Google searches on a daily basis. If https://www.google.com just has one server, your browser can have trouble loading the site's content, if it ever gets there. This is due to the fact that millions of users often attempt to visit the same page concurrently. Multiple high-capacity servers, each with a distinct IP address, are offered by businesses like Google to manage the traffic to https://www.google.com. It is still necessary to evenly distribute traffic from different regions of the globe among the available servers, even when there are many of them. A load balancer may help with this.

In this sense, load-balancers are programs?or pieces of?hardware?that direct client requests for servers to a large number of servers connected to the same network. Utilizing various scheduling methods together inside a single piece of software is known as load balancing. On the hardware side, load balancers are devices that sit in between servers and clients and are frequently referred to as specialized routers or switches.

6.??? WEB SERVER & APPLICATION SERVER

Your request is routed via a load balancer before reaching a web server operated by Google. Your request is handled by these servers, who process it and obtain the requested web page. HTTP requests are handled by web servers like Apache, Nginx, or IIS, which then retrieve the required data and provide it to your browser.

Some websites such as Google?have separate application servers. Complex application logic, such as search algorithms, user authentication, and database interfaces, is carried out by application servers. To create dynamic content, they engage in communication with the web server.

7.??? DATABASE

Databases hold information in an organized way that makes speedy searches and routine upkeep possible. A database may be used to store, manage, and retrieve any kind of information. A systematic method has been used in gathering this data.

By storing user information, updating location and time zone information, managing session data, and other functions, the database management system enables data management. It makes it possible to maintain ordered data inside of a framework that is both visually beautiful and sound operationally. The application server interacts with the database server through the database system to obtain data from the database system, save data, edit data, or delete data. Given that we are now attempting to visit the Google homepage, the database will be searched in accordance with the request for location data while taking our IP address into account. The application server will then create and transmit to us an HTML page that is more suited to our requirements.

CONCLUSION

From the time you enter "https://www.google.com" into your browser until the moment the page is entirely loaded, a web request travels through a number of crucial stages. Anyone working in the area of software engineering has to understand this process. It demonstrates how DNS, TCP/IP, firewalls, HTTPS/SSL, load balancers, web servers, application servers, and databases interact to enable the smooth operation of the internet.