Web hosting can be compared to a flea market or shopping mall. A large amount of space is purchased and then rented out to other individuals or companies. Once the space has been rented to these other individuals or companies then they will use that space to sell their products and services.



In the same way, when you buy a web hosting package you are buying space that can be used as you see fit. This space is on a hard drive of what is called a web server. A web server is simply a computer that has certain software that allows web pages to be downloaded to your browser.

These web servers are then connected to the Internet using data cables. The large data cables that circle the world are called trunk lines. Data flows through these trunk lines at incredible speed. They do this by binding together many smaller cables. The term trunk line comes from a tree that has a trunk and many branches extending from it. All the cables extending out from central points look like webs and is why it's called the World Wide Web.

Web hosting companies will pay to have access to these high speed trunk lines or what they are more commonly known as, backbone networks. They will then offer this access to their customers.

Quite a few disperse technologies are layered one on top of the other. All of them must perform their functions in perfect unison in order to allow web sites to display online.

There are the two computers, one at each end. The other end is the web server at your web hosting company. It's common for web servers to have multiple high-end CPUs, more RAM and a much larger data capacity than a personal computer.

Then there is your personal computer with all of its hardware and software. This includes your Internet browser which parses and displays the data sent from the web server.

When you enter a domain name into your browser it transmits that request to the Domain Name Servers at your ISP, or Internet Service Provider. The IP address associated with the domain name is then attached and forwarded through the different networks until it arrives at your web hosting company. At your hosting company a router, with its firewall and traffic logging abilities, receives the request.

The request is then forwarded by the router to the correct switch. High-end data centers will often have the switch mounted inside the web server cabinet. This ensures less data cable needs to be used and will help keep the switch cool since server racks are usually air conditioned.

The switch then forwards the request on to your web server which is then pointed to the appropriate folder by the web server software. The software reads the information from the folder and then sends that to your web browser. The browser must then decipher and display the information based on a certain protocol.

The whole process happens almost instantly, bringing you the world in a blink of an eye.