How do web sites work? (Part 1, Series A) May31 '04

Note: This article is intended for anyone with only a vague understanding of how web sites "work." This is not meant to be an exhaustive spin on specific issues, but rather an informative discussion on a rather common phenomenom in today’s world (web sites) – and one that many people participate in, but can hardly surmise the reasons and facts of how it operates. A little education (especially with technology) can never hurt.

Web servers vs. hard drives

Web sites operate much like computer hard drives. In fact, a web server (where a web site sits) is nothing more than a remote hard drive – where files can be transferred to (upload), and also retrieved (download).

The majority of web viewers are only concerned with the "download" part. However, if you are a webmaster of a particular web site, then you probably have permission to "upload," files, by utilizing a username and password, which connects you to the appropriate directory on the server. This process is called FTP. FTP stands for "File Transfer Protocol." In a nutshell, FTP means "the rules determining the format and transmission of file transfers."

On our home computers, we are performing FTP without even knowing it. When we save a file to a disk or CD, we are essentially transferring (uploading) that file to another (remote) location.

FTP also works in the reverse way. Whenever we transfer a file from a disk or CD to the hard drive on our computers, we are performing a download. And this concept is arguably one of the most common procedures on the web.

With a web server, we are either connected by regular phone cords, or we are connected by ethernet cables, which look like "phone cords on steroids." Ethernet cables, due to their larger size, allow us to connect at a considerably faster speeds than skinny phone lines, because they allow more data to pass through. (The fundamentals of "space and matter" don’t change with technology).

The browser steps in

Where FTP involves the transferring of files, a web browser conducts the most important task of all – displaying those files. This is accomplished by using a method similar to FTP, but this time, we are not physically saving the file to a location – we are just viewing it.

When you type in a URL in the address bar, or click on a link in a web page, the browser makes a request to the specific server of the site that you called. Behind the scenes, the browser connects to that server, grabs the requested file, and displays it to the viewer. In a sense, the browser is the "middle man" between the viewer and the actual file, residing on the web server.

The difference between FTP and a browser is that FTP is a method of directly connecting to the server directory (folder), as opposed to a browser, which "connects and displays," all at the same time. A browser can be used to FTP as well, but that requires third–party tools, which are beyond the scope of this article.

With FTP, you can store any type of file on the server, but the browser can only display certain types of files, which are discussed next.

As a side note... There are dozens of web browsers on the market. The two most popular browsers are Internet Explorer, and Netscape Navigator. These two browsers encapsulate about 95% of the market share, with Internet Explorer grabbing the most attention. However, there are many other browsers out there, some that offer better features and access.

The most popular browsers, other than the main two, are Opera, Safari, and Mozilla – which are also the makers of FireFox and Camino.

These other browsers can often change your entire perspective of the web. They all offer incredible features and stability. (Once I tried a few, I never went back to Internet Explorer or Netscape).

An intro to HTML

A web browser can’t display just any type of file. The file has to be written in a specific markup language called HTML. HTML stands for "HyperText Markup Language." HTML uses tags to describe data. For example, here is a simple example of a paragraph in HTML:

As you can see, the actual text from the two paragraphs is wrapped in between two tags. The opening tag, <p>, is the HTML way of declaring a new paragraph, for which the browser displays a two line breaks, or the equivilant of two hits of the Enter key. The closing tag, </p>, is the HTML way of closing that particular paragraph. This tells the browser, "That’s the end of the current paragraph, so you can stop treating the text as a paragraph element." If we didn’t include the closing paragraph tags, or the opening tag of the second paragraph, all the text would run together, and make one big paragraph – obviously not what we want.

There are hundreds of other HTML tags, each of which perform a certain task to the actual text. This just gives you an idea of how HTML works.

Pause and absorb

In Part 2 of Series A, we will discuss how to obtain web server space, how to upload files, how domain names work, and how to obtain your own custom domain name.

Categories: Internet , Tutorials

Add Feedback (view all)