The dawn of the net was the first time that people and machinery were able to work together, where people could communicate and be brought together regardless of their geographical boundaries. This has been labelled a new era because of this.
So how does it all work?
It all starts at a link and clicking it starts the whole process. When you click a link, a flow of information is sent down a network IP. The information can’t be sent all as one because it’d be too big and that’s why after you click the link, the information is divided into packets because of the limited size they’re able to be.
The IP packets are labelled with information, information such as the sender and receivers addresses. In the case of a packet going through the internet, it is also assigned an address for the proxy server. Once this is done, the packet gets launched onto LAN, LAN means Local Area Network and it connects all the devices together under the same connection to exchange information in an uncontrolled area.
A LAN highway deals with also sorts of different information and sends the packets along to the router, they do encounter some traffic though. Now that the packet as made it to the router, the packets beings to the leave the router. Routers are systematic but not always up to speed as you’d expect but they are for the majority of the time, exact and wont fault.
The packets have left the router and now go towards the corporate intranet and head to the router switch. The router switch is more efficient than the router and routes the IP packets along the right path, where they start to arrive at the network interface.
Once at the network interface, the packets go through another proxy in terms of a website that a company owns. For a lot of companies, the proxy acts as a middle man, load is lessened via the use of a proxy and they also serve to give a level of security to the company or person.
These packets are all different sizes still and the proxy proceeds to open each one, looking for the URL, the url is the links address of which you click at the beginning. If the packet is acceptable and features the url and information which was requested, it now gets sent onto the internet.
Not all addresses need checking via a proxy though, some are denied and received as malicious or harmful content depending on your network filter and others are automatically accepted if labelled as secure.
Now the packets are sent onto the firewall. A firewall is used to prevent nasty stuff from being received as well as information that is sensitive being sent out. Programs have been made and can be downloaded which do this exact thing but usually, your computers operating system will come equipped with one.
The packets finally reach their destination, the internet, the internet is made up of routers and switches all establishing a connection between networks. This is home to a lot of information and places to go, it also harnesses a lot of space to work with where anyone can create a site. But because of this, and the fact that anyone can create a site and that anyone can connect to the internet, it is often not controlled very well and doesn’t receive regulation.
Dangers are present on the internet though, the ping of death is a ping disguised as a normal request one but with the intention to mess and screw up unsuspecting hosts. This is why another firewall is used, it’s the bastion of security but also the enemy in the case of someone wanting to do harm online. It all depends on your intentions, really.
Firewall number two only lets packets past that match the criteria given and every other port is closed and cannot send or receive packets. Two main ports are used, number 25 and 80. These ports do the following:
- Port 25 – Used for mail packets
- Port 80 – Used for internet packets
Our packets journey is nearly over, once a packet reaches it this far, its next step of operation is to get taken to the webserver. Webservers can run on many different things, such as a mainframe or even webcam for example. The packets that have luckily made it this far are finally now received, once they have been received another process begins. Packets are opened and unpacked one by one which then are put onto the webserver application once unpacked.
The life of the packet isn’t over though, the packet now gets recycled and become filled with the information you requested once again. The packets are addressed to be sent back to you now and go though everything they did beforehand including all the firewalls and the internet.
All of the packets have been sent back to your interface and is supplied by the web browser you have open which is then represented and displays the information you originally requested.
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