The browser, the server, and the cloud are the three basic components that make up the modern internet. But just how does it all work? In this post, we will provide a high-level overview of how these three concepts work together to power the World Wide Web.
The Browser
The web browser is the program you use to access the internet from your desktop, tablet, or phone. We like to refer to them as your car for the internet. Just like cars, they come in many shapes, sizes, brands, each with their own unique features. And while many of them have a lot of similarities, there are still differences that could alter your experience. Older browsers may not work so well on newer websites, just like how older cars may not run so well on the highway as they used to. With that in mind, the Browser is collectively referred to as the client. But for it to fully work, require a second part, which is the server.
The Server
The server is the backbone of the internet. But what is a server? A server is basically a computer running a special operating system that allows other computers to connect to it. The internet is actually thousands if not millions of computers of all types, sizes, in different parts of the world, all interconnected through a single protocol called HyperText Transfer Protocol or more commonly known as HTTP. You most likely have seen this before as it’s how every domain starts such as ours http://webadvisory.co. In a previous post, we mentioned how a domain points to a server. And so when you type in a domain name, your browser sends a request and transfers you to that server that hosts the website. This is essentially how the internet works. Your browser connects to a server (another computer) which you can then interact with. But with so many people using the web, a single server may not handle all those requests. So you may need something more powerful.
The Cloud
As the web grew and the need for more data to be processed, hosted, and stored, the need to process this data faster and more efficiently was needed. Similar to how, if you run too many programs at once on your computer, things will slow down as it runs out of resources. So rather than building larger servers, it ended up being more economical to cluster hundreds of smaller servers together which can share resources seamlessly. Regardless of the request type or geographic origin. So where a server would be a single computer, the cloud is a collection of hundreds of machines, interconnected in ways that allow for the output of enormous amounts of computing.
Summing it all up
While we only covered the very surface, knowing the difference between the browser, server, and the cloud is important for people to understand. It will help you make better informed decisions when it comes time to a technical issue being reported, or even decide what kind of service you need to get. As always, should you have any questions, we are more than happy to help answer them.