What happens when you type google.com in your browser and press Enter

Chiamaka Ikeanyi
2 min readJul 16, 2023

Here’s a story about how the internet works when you type “google.com” in your web browser, like when you want to search for something fun or interesting.

When you press enter, your computer talks to a special address book called the “Domain Name System” or DNS. It asks the DNS to find the right place where “google.com” lives on the internet.

Once the computer knows where to go, it sends a request to that place using special rules called “TCP/IP.” It’s like knocking on a door to say, “Hello, I want to see what’s on ‘google.com’, please.”

But before the door opens, there’s a security guard called a “firewall” that checks if the request is okay. It makes sure everything is safe before letting you in.

After passing the security check, your computer and the server hosting “google.com” create a secret code together called “HTTPS.” It’s like putting your message in a locked box that only the computer and the server can open. This way, nobody else can see what you’re looking at.

Because “google.com” is so popular and lots of people want to visit it, Google uses many servers to handle all the visitors. They have a clever “load balancer” that shares the work among the servers using different techniques like “round robin” etc, so none of them get too busy.

When everything is set, the server sends back a special message to your computer with the web page you wanted. It’s like getting a gift in the mail, and your computer opens the locked box to see what’s inside.

Finally, your web browser takes the web page and shows it to you. It puts everything in the right places, like showing pictures and arranging text nicely.

Now, you can have fun exploring the web page, clicking on links, and learning new things. And that’s how the internet works when you search for something on “google.com.” Isn’t it fascinating?

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