While using the internet is like second nature to many of us, how the web actually works is an infinite subject. Educating yourself on this ever-changing technology can help you understand the basic anatomy of a website and how it functions, further empowering you as a website owner, a site user, or even an internet marketer.

1. P1WS Lunch & Learn:
How the Web Works
May 05, 2019

2. Overview
“The Internet is not something that you just dump something on.
It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand,
those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your
message in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone
that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous
amounts of material.”
- Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
This is wrong.

3. Type a URL into your browser:
What happens next?

4. Basic Website Anatomy
DOMAIN
REGISTRAR
NAMESERVERS
DNS HOST /
DNS RECORDS
HOSTING
PROVIDER

5. Domain
Registrar
A domain registrar is where domain names are
purchased, or registered. Popular registrars include
GoDaddy, Network Solutions, eNom, Namecheap, and
many, many more.
When a user enters a domain into the address bar of
their browser or clicks on a link, the domain registrar
is the first step that helps to direct that request.
There are various TLDs, or top-level domains: .com,
.net, .org, .gov, and more are being added all the time.
A domain’s primary settings are its nameservers.

6. Name
Servers
When a user visits an address, that domain’s
nameserver settings indicate where the domain’s
DNS Records are hosted. These entries adhere to
the following general format:
ns1.domaincontrol.com
ns2.domaincontrol.com
ns1.mediatemple.net
ns2.mediatemple.net
Nameservers can point back to the domain registrar
where the domain is registered, or to another server
altogether.

7. DNS
Records
DNS is short for Domain Name System. DNS
Records routes various internet requests to their
destinations, like a virtual “phonebook”. They are
usually entered in plain text format via a dashboard
or control panel.
DNS Records can be hosted at the registrar where the
domain was purchased. They can also live at the
hosting provider that houses the site’s files.
Infrequently, they can live on a separate third-party
server that acts as a middleman between the
registrar and the hosting provider.

8. DNS
Records
DNS Record types include, but are not limited to:
A Record: Short for “address record”. Routes
requests to the IP address of a hosting server (ex:
11.111.11.111).
CNAME Record: Short for “canonical name record”.
Points one record to another, such as www.test.com
to test.com.
MX Record: Short for “mail exchanger record”.
Determines how email requests are routed (to G
Suite, Outlook, etc.).

9. Hosting
Providers
A hosting provider is a server that houses the
actual files that make up a website: databases, HTML
pages, images, PDF files, PHP includes, etc.
Popular hosting providers include GoDaddy, Network
Solutions, MediaTemple, Pantheon-- many of these,
but not all, also allow users to purchase domain
names, and many even provide email services.
In a nutshell, domain registrars use
nameserver entries to point to DNS records,
which in turn point to hosting providers.

10. Basic Web Anatomy
Domain Registrar
● Where you buy your domains
● May also act as DNS Host / Site Host, but not always!
Nameservers
● Tells the browser where to find the DNS Records
● Always set within the Domain Registrar account
DNS Host / DNS Records
● A virtual “phonebook”
● Tells where to find a domain’s site, email service, etc.
Hosting Provider
● Where the actual site files live
● Bad hosts can make or break site speed/performance

11. How to Determine Domain Settings
“WHOIS”
A WHOIS query will usually return the
following pieces of info about a given domain:
1. Domain Registrar
2. Expiration Date
3. Nameservers
Being able to read these queries can save you
a lot of time. You can google “WHOIS”, or go
to whois.net, or do a search on GoDaddy, etc.
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12. Additional Terms
cPanel
A brand of server software that allows users to
manage various aspects of their account:
- adding / removing / editing files
- adding / removing / editing databases
- installing / removing SSL certificates
- and much more

13. Additional Terms
SSL Certificate
Short for “Secure Socket Layer Certificate”. Once
installed on a site, the SSL cert allows traffic to
connect via HTTPS instead of just HTTP for greater
security.
Paid certs can be purchased from Domain
Registrars and Hosting Providers, but free ones are
being offered more and more via entities such as
cPanel and Let’s Encrypt.

14. Additional Terms
FTP / SFTP
Stands for “file transfer protocol” / “secure file
transfer protocol”. FTP credentials allow users to
connect to a server via software to view directory
contents, download & upload files, delete items, and
change file permissions. Common FTP programs, or
clients, include FileZilla and WinSCP.
SFTP is more secure than FTP (hence the name).
phpMyAdmin
Software which allows someone to view and
edit/remove/add to the contents of a database via a
browser-based user interface. Often launched from
within a cPanel dashboard or accessed directly via
a login URL.

15. Additional Terms
Slash
This character: /
Also known as a forward slash. Since we read left to
right, we can think of the top of the slash as
pointing “forward” toward the rest of the line of
text.
Backslash
This character:
The opposite of a forward slash. Since we read left
to right, we can think of the top of the backslash as
pointing “back” toward the text that came before it.
A backslash has the potential to break URLs and
code if used incorrectly.

16. The P1WS Dev Team
Jeremy
Administrative assistant to Argos
Huffington Specklebelly, who is
the real brains behind the Dev
department.
Ellis
Wrestled a bear once, then
became friends with it. They stay
in touch and exchange cards on
holidays.
Chrystine
Currently petitioning the UN to
recognize a language she
invented that is based entirely on
cute animal gifs.
Darrel
Dressed up as a bear to wrestle
Ellis so that they could become
pen pals and exchange holiday
cards.