Why Does Clicking on a URL Take Me to a Server?
A URL is a Uniform Resource Locator, which is the official name for a Web address. The URL contains the full address of a file on a Web server that contains a Web page. The method of creating links in Web pages enables visitors to one page to move to another page without having to type in the address of the new page in the address field of the Web browser. That new Web page might be on the same site, on a different site on the same Web server, or on a site on a different Web server.
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Links
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The links in Web pages are actually called “hyperlinks” and are central to the Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML, which is the language in which all Web pages are written. A link is a piece of colored underlined text that acts as a button. When a visitor clicks on the link, the browser copies an address hidden within the code of the page and associated with that text.
Browser Actions
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The browser deals with the link in one of three ways. It either copies the address to the address bar of the same window in which the Web page with the link appears, opens a new window with the new address in the address field, or, if the window containing the link was spawned by another window, the new page could be opened in the parent window. The option that is implemented depends on the state associated with the reference behind the link text.
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Domain Name
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Once a browser window is open with the link address in the address bar, the browser has to find the Web server associated with that URL. A website's address is called a “domain name.” This is the “www.something.com” part of the address. At this point, the browser is not interested in any other part of the URL. A domain name is not a real address; it's a reference to an IP address. The IP address is defined by the Internet Protocol, and every computer connected to the Internet has to have a unique IP address -- so the Web browser has to find the IP address associated with that domain name.
Web Servers
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Although a link can refer to a file on the user's computer, this usually happens only when an application uses HTML as a format for a presentation which is downloaded as a bundle of files onto the user's computer. This is rare. Another instance where the target Web page might be on the local computer is when the page is under development. In normal Web operations, the desired Web page is always on a sever. A Web server is a large computer, contactable over the Internet, which exists solely to hold and distribute Web pages. The browser reaches that server by applying to a Domain Name Server for the IP address associated with the domain name of the URL in its address field.
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References
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