HOW THE WEB WORKS

When you visit a website, the web server hosting that site could be anywhere in the world. In order for you to find the location of the web server, your browser will first connect to a Domain Name System (DNS) server.

On this page you can see examples that demonstrate how the web server that hosts the website you are visiting can be anywhere in the world. It is the DNS servers that tell your browser how to find the website.

• A user in Barcelona visits sony.jp in Tokyo
• A user in New York visits google.com in San Francisco
• A user in Stockholm visits qantas.com.au in Sydney
• A user in Vancouver visits airindia.in in Bangalore

On the right you can see what happens when a web user in England wants to view the website of the Louvre art gallery in France which is located at www.louvre.fr. Firstly, the browser in Cambridge contacts a DNS server in London. The DNS server then tells the browser the location of the web server hosting the site in Paris.