Thinking Out Loud – Internet Basics

03Mar07

When I connect to the internet, I am on a client computer (however once I am connected i may serve as a remote server for my ISP also). My ISP is the first server I go through to connect to web pages. When I type in an address my server looks up the target IP on the DNS, and sends the request to a router(think of routers as the postal service). The router reads the request, and decides on the fastest and easiest way to send the information (each packet can be sent along different paths – they do not need to follow each other, nor remain in sequence – the packets contain instructions on how they are to be assembled at the other end.). Depending on traffic, and where each computer is, this can involve many ‘hops’. This forms the TCP/IP data exchange on a web server.