Details of what happens when google.com is typed
Tags: browser, google
Published: 2023-05-14 20:38:56

Ever wonder what happens in the blink of an eye after you type https://www.google.com into your browser and press Enter? It does more than just take you to Google's homepage. Behind the scenes, a complex set of processes are running that are responsible for delivering content from web servers to our screens.

We all want our internet experience to be fast, secure, and reliable, so let's break down each part of this process to see what's really happening when we type a simple URL into our browser window. We'll explore DNS requests and TCP/IP, firewalls and HTTPS/SSL, load-balancing and web servers, application servers, and databases.

After reading this article, you'll have a greater appreciation for the technology behind each website we open as well as an understanding of how each piece works with the others to make our digital lives run smoothly every time we click Enter.

You Type https://www.google.com and Press Enter

So you've typed https://www.google.com into your browser window and pressed enter. What now? A lot of technical stuff happens behind the scenes. Let's take a look at each step.

The first thing that happens is that a DNS request is sent out to find out the IP address associated with https://www.google.com – this is a unique numerical identifier that helps the computer determine which web server to send your request to.

Once the IP address is found, a TCP/IP connection is established between your computer and the web server – this cryptographic protocol provides secure communication between two or more computers and helps keep everything secure across the internet. Then your request hits any firewall filters configured for the domain name before it reaches the next step in its journey: an SSL handshake with a load-balancer, which efficiently distributes requests to web servers based on pre-defined rules or user preferences.

The load-balancer then sends your request to the appropriate web server and then an application server (if there is one). Here's where things get interesting – depending on what kind of website it is, any programming code associated with it runs and reaches out to the database for more info if needed, pulls data together, performs calculations and sends back a response in HTML form back along the established path you [](

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)took before…right back down to you!

A DNS Request Is Sent to Resolve the Domain Name

It's easy to forget that when you type in a website's URL, like https://www.google.com, it's translated into a language computers understand. But what really happens when you press Enter?

The first thing that needs to happen is the website offering you its content needs to be found. When you type the address into your browser, a DNS request is sent out to resolve the domain name of the server hosting the website. The DNS looks up information about the site, such as its IP address and location, and sends it back as an answer. This process happens almost instantaneously and preps your computer for communication with the server.

Next, using TCP/IP protocols, your computer sends out requests for the pages of the site shown in your browser. Depending on what type of firewall or load balancer is in place at the server-side, these requests can be accepted or rejected before they ever reach their destination.

Finally, if things are all in order on both ends, an SSL handshake takes place over HTTPS protocol - this extra layer of encryption ensures all data sent between your browser and web server is secure and private. After that takes place successfully, a web server can serve up content from an application server and database connected to it to your browser window - which is why sometimes websites take longer than others to load!

TCP/IP Protocols Establish a Secure Connection

Did you know that when you type "https://www.google.com", your browser isn't just taking you to the Google homepage? That's because typing in this URL triggers a series of processes that make sure your request is securely handled.

The TCP/IP protocols have been around for decades, allowing computers to connect with each other over a network. While there are many different types of protocols, most browsers rely on two: IP and TCP.

The IP protocol handles routing your request to the right server by looking up your IP address in a Domain Name System (DNS) server, while the TCP protocol breaks your request into pieces and makes sure everything is properly transmitted with no data loss — it also takes care of security by encrypting your data.

Then, a firewall checks to make sure nothing malicious or dangerous is coming through before passing it along to the load-balancer which distributes traffic across multiple web servers. The web server then sends the request to the application server which makes sure the requested page can be displayed correctly. Finally, the database manages information retrieval and storage for this process, ensuring that that all requests are served quickly and accurately.

Combined with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption, this process creates a secure connection from end-to-end — from when you enter in "https://www.google.com", to when Google sends back its response — keeping both user data and host information safe every step of the way!

Your Firewall Checks the Connection and Passes It Through

Once all of your devices are connected together, your firewall comes into play. It checks the connection to make sure that there’s nothing malicious lurking in the background, and then it passes it through to the web server.

Your firewall is a bit like an online bouncer—it stands guard over your computer and examines incoming and outgoing traffic. If something looks suspicious, your firewall will block it from getting through.

Once the connection is approved by the firewall, your TCP/IP protocol takes over. This protocol breaks down data into small packets that are easier for the web server to process. To make sure that all of these pieces get put back together properly, TCP/IP also includes error checking to make sure that every last byte of data arrives as expected.

Finally, if you type in a URL beginning with HTTPS (like https://www.google.com), you’ll also be using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). This extra layer of security encrypts data before it leaves your device, so any bad actors on the same network won’t be able to read what you’re sending or receiving.

HTTPS Encrypts Your Connection for Added Security

Do you ever wonder why your browser's URL bar turns green when you search for something on Google? That's because of HTTPS!

When it comes to ensuring your connection is secure, HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) adds an extra layer of protection. It's the same protocol that sends data between web browsers and websites, but with the added benefit that it encrypts your communication and makes sure only the intended receiver can read it. This protects against "man-in-the-middle" attacks, where someone else intercepts your data before it reaches its intended recipient.

To ensure a secure connection, HTTPS uses something called the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocol. This is basically a handshake process between both sides of the connection—the browser and server—whereby they agree who will be talking to whom and what kind of encryption should be used for each communication session. Once this connection is established, all data sent back and forth is scrambled by a key that only both sides know about. After that, every time someone visits Google in their browser, they get redirected to the secure version thanks to a feature called HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS).

In short, all this means that you can rest easy knowing that when you type https://www.google.com into your browser you're connecting through safe and secure channels!

Load Balancers Distribute Your Request to Google's Web Servers

When you type in https://www.google.com and press 'Enter', your request is sent to a load balancer. Load balancers are responsible for distributing requests effectively, efficiently and securely over the Internet and can be located anywhere in the world.

A load-balancer can:

Divide traffic by geographical location

Automatically reroute traffic when necessary

Select the server with the best performance to minimize user wait time

Monitor servers for any unexpected downtimes and mitigate them by redirecting traffic to unaffected servers

Google's load balancers will take your request, route it through their firewall, and send it off to one of Google's Web servers, using both the DNS protocol and TCP/IP. The Web server will then process the request, query one or more application servers (which house all of Google’s programs and applications) as necessary, access databases as needed, and respond back with an HTML version of Google's homepage. Lastly, it will also send an HTTPS response that encrypts your data — whether you were searching for something or just looking at an image — so that others can't gain access to it.

Application Servers Process Your Search Query

Let's continue exploring what happens when you type https://www.google.com into your browser and hit enter. Now we're getting to the meaty part of the process: the application servers.

When you type in your search query and hit enter, the application servers take care of the processing power needed to make it happen. They query a database for the results and return them to you in an organized format.

The aim is for your request to be processed as quickly as possible, so Google uses load balancers to distribute requests evenly across its application servers and ensure performance isn't impacted by fluctuating traffic levels. To keep things safe from hackers, your connection is secured with HTTPS/SSL encryption when it passes through the firewall, making sure only authorized people can access the application server.

This way, Google can handle massive amounts of activity without disruption—and you get nicely organized search results in a matter of seconds!

Results Are Retrieved From Google's Massive Databases

When you press the 'enter' key, the web servers connected to the Google network retrieve results from Google's massive databases. The databases contain the answers to all of your searches, and they are constantly updated to ensure that you get accurate results.

These databases are managed by Google’s application and database servers, which are designed to process millions of requests every second. The application server collates all of the relevant information from different sources (web pages, images, videos etc.), while the database server stores the data in an organized manner in order to provide quick access. The results are then sent back to you via Google's secure HTTPS protocol and displayed on your screen.

In addition, a load-balancer is responsible for distributing traffic effectively across many web servers and makes sure that each request is served quickly with minimal latency. And last but not least, any malicious requests will be blocked by Google's firewall before reaching any of its internal resources or databases.

So there you have it—a complex series of operations behind something as simple as typing https://www.google.com into your browser!

Conclusion

From the DNS request to the Google search engine, there is a lot working behind the scenes when you type https://www.google.com in the browser. With the help of the Firewall, HTTPS/SSL, load-balancer, web server, application server, and database, your request is processed and the results displayed to you in a matter of seconds.

Whether we realize it or not, complex computing systems are at work every time we go online. We are making use of a network of computers and software that help our requests get from Point A to Point B efficiently and securely. So the next time you type that URL and hit enter, remember all that's going on in the background to make your Google search a reality.