The Way it Works

This is the way that mysterious black box does its magic.

Summary

What happens when you tell your computer to navigate to a website? First, your browser has to go to a DNS server and request the location. Next, the DNS server provides the location (IP address) of the server that hosts the website. Finally, the browser requests the website content from the server and renders it for you.

Think of your web host as your landlord. The DNS server is like a phone book that has all of the information about where everyone is located. If you change web hosts, or move, you have to update the middle man (the DNS server/phone book) so that everyone looking for you can find you.

Chrome is our browser of choice. Not all browsers are created equal.

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Tags: web hosting, DNS server, IP address, browser

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