Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

• Explain every major networking step that occurs after entering a URL into a browser.
• Understand how DNS, ARP, switching, routing, NAT, TCP, and TLS work together.
• Identify where each OSI layer participates in the communication process.
• Relate the journey to cloud infrastructure and DevOps environments.
• Troubleshoot common issues at different stages of the communication flow.

Introduction

Imagine opening your browser and typing:

<https://www.google.com>

Within a fraction of a second, the Google homepage appears.

To the user, it feels instant.

Behind the scenes, however, dozens of networking operations occur before the first byte of the web page is displayed.

These operations involve:

• The browser
• The operating system
• DNS servers
• The local network