How an Internet Browser Works
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Web Addresses and Ports
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Servers across the web are identified by virtual port numbers. Before data can be sent and received between your t browser and a web server, a connection to the server's port must be established. Browsers use web addresses (such as http://www.google.com/) to specify a location of the information/connection request. The web address is converted from its user-friendly text format to a numerical TCP/IP address.
TCP/IP
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Web browsers use TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) to create a connection between your computer and a web server. TCPs readies data--it breaks web data down into 1,500-bit packets of data and readies it for transmission between your computer and a web server. The IP sends data and ensures that it reaches the recipient of the information--the computer or web server.
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HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
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Web browsers use HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)--a sub protocol of TCP/IP--to communicate with web servers. Requests for connections, the termination of connections and requests for data--such as HTML and pictures--are communicated with HTTP. Once the connection between your computer and the web server is approved, data can be sent over the ports and later interpreted by your Internet browser as text and images.
Meta Tags and HTML Interpretation
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The most common form of data retrieved via HTTP from a web page on a web server is an HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) document--it contains the text you see on a web page and links to embedded files such as images and flash. HTML documents contain instructions called "meta tags," which give your Internet browser general instructions on how the web page should be displayed--though the exact interpretation of elements such as text spacing, paragraph alignment and font size varies between Internet browsers.
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