How the Web Works
The Web is a client/server network. People using a browser (the client) request a text file or web page by typing in the URL or address of the page. This request goes out on the Internet (a global network established in 1960's during the Cold War.)
When the web server receives the request, it looks up the filename and makes a copy of it and any related files such as photos or sound files. It then sends these back to the browser where it is displayed.
Think of a web server as a gigantic copy machine.
The amazing thing is that all the information that uses the Internet has to be binary - either a one or a zero. So, everything from the request for a web page to the files that are returned are all ones and zeros sent in thousands of little data packets.
These files are consolidated by the browser and displayed according to the HTML codes contained in the web page.
