Let the Games Commence!

When you view a web page, a surprising number of things need to happen before you get to see the page in all its glory. The good news is that from a user’s point of view all they have to do is type in the proper address—and thanks to Google even that isn’t really important any more. However, you shouldn’t confuse simple with simplistic. The web as you see it today is made possible because of myriad systems that all work nicely together in order to create the appearance of a single system. If any one of these systems were to fail, it would significantly impact your ability to browse the web—and in many cases would stop it all together.

Coming from a Non-IT Background

Many people have come to building and managing web sites from backgrounds other than the traditional IT route. In fact, some of the best web designers we know have very little in the way of computer science knowledge; it’s really their creative side that has made them successful at what they do. The technicalities of making a web site work and the infrastructure to run them is often just a cost of doing business; it’s a necessary evil and not something they have a particular interest in. Unfortunately, these folks may be unaware of certain technical issues that they really should address, such as SQL injection attacks and cross-site scripting. (Of course, not everyone falls into this category; many people who develop web sites not only hav....