What happens when you type https://www.google.com in your browser and press Enter

The journey to reach your desired webpage involves a series of intricate events that occur behind the scenes, even though the process may appear instantaneous. When you enter a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) such as https://www.google.com into your browser and hit Enter, let us explore this expedition to gain a deeper understanding.

1. DNS Request: Demystifying Domain Names: Think of the internet as a vast metropolis, with websites serving as towering structures within it. Each structure possesses its own distinct address, but instead of conventional street names and numbers, websites are recognized by domain names (e.g., google.com). However, your browser is unable to directly understand these names. It requires an address translator, akin to an internet phonebook, to locate the corresponding numerical address. This is where the Domain Name System (DNS) plays a crucial role.

• When you enter a URL, your browser initiates a DNS request.
• The DNS server, acting like an internet phonebook, looks up the IP address (e.g., 142.250.183.194) associated with the domain name "google.com."
• The DNS server returns the IP address to your browser.

2. TCP/IP: The Language of Communication: Once your browser obtains the IP address, it is able to establish communication with the Google server. However, the question arises: how do they communicate? This is where the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite comes into action. Consider TCP/IP as a standardized language that enables computers to communicate seamlessly across networks.

• TCP/IP ensures reliable data transmission by breaking down large data packets into smaller, manageable pieces.
• These packets are then transmitted over the internet, and TCP/IP at the receiving end (Google server) reassembles them in the correct order.

3. Firewall (Optional): The Gatekeeper: On certain networks, a security guard known as a firewall oversees both incoming and outgoing traffic. This firewall has the ability to:

• Check if the website you're trying to access is safe.
• Grant or deny permission to connect based on pre-defined security rules.

4. HTTPS/SSL: Securing the Connection: The presence of "https" at the start of a URL signifies a secure connection, which is guaranteed by the implementation of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) along with the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols.

• HTTPS/SSL encrypts the communication between your browser and the Google server.
• This encryption scrambles the data being exchanged, making it unreadable to anyone eavesdropping on the conversation.

5. Load Balancer (Possible): Distributing the Traffic: Major websites such as Google frequently utilize load balancers to handle high volumes of traffic. Picture a bustling restaurant with only one server. A load balancer functions similar to a maitre d', effectively dispersing incoming requests among numerous servers. This guarantees:

• Smooth performance by preventing any single server from being overloaded.
• Faster response times for you, the end user.

6. Web Server: The Host with the Most: The Google web server, which is akin to the host in a restaurant, ultimately receives the request and is responsible for serving web pages.

• The web server interprets your request, which could be to display the Google homepage or a specific webpage within the domain.
• It retrieves the necessary resources, such as HTML code, images, and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) files, to fulfill your request.

7. Application Server: The Content Chef: Sophisticated websites, such as Google, frequently utilize application servers that operate in the background. These servers function similarly to a chef in a restaurant, customizing the content to suit your specific request.

• The web server might communicate with an application server to generate dynamic content, such as search results tailored to your query.
• Application servers use databases (explained in the next step) to retrieve and process information to generate the requested content.

8. Database: The Information Vault: Websites often depend on databases for storing data, much like how a restaurant keeps track of its inventory and customer details.

• Databases might store product information for e-commerce sites, user account details for social media platforms, or articles and news stories for news websites.
• The application server might interact with a database to fetch relevant data to fulfill your request.

9. Response: Sending the Webpage Back: The web server (or the application server, if applicable) generates a response that contains the HTML content of the webpage you have requested. This HTML code serves as a template for how the webpage should appear on your browser. Additionally, the response may contain supplementary resources such as images and stylesheets, which enhance the visual appeal and functionality of the webpage.

Essentially, the loading of a webpage in your browser entails a captivating collaboration of diverse technologies harmoniously functioning behind the scenes.