What Happens When You Visit An Internet Website?

Time For Some Alphabet Soup

Whenever you type an address into your web browser, or click on a link in a web page, you are making a request for a certain document. Handled by the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), your request is sent over the Internet to the server that holds the document you want. Assuming all goes well, the server will respond by sending the document, usually a web page consisting of text and graphics.

Exactly what is HTTP? It is part of the Internet Protocol (IP) suite, and is used by a “client,” such as a web browser, to establish a connection with the server that hosts a particular website. The server monitors TCP port 80 as it waits for incoming requests.

Connections on the Internet that allow 2 computers to exchange data are created by the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). TCP is equipped to identify the requesting computer, and to properly transmit data to its destination.

Server To Web Browser — Behind The Scenes

Several TCP ports are available with standardized uses. For example, TCP Port 21 is usually reserved for FTP (File Transfer Protocol) for uploading and downloading files. Port 80 is...