How a Web Page Arrives
Between typing a URL and seeing the page, your request travels wrapped in envelope after envelope. Step through the journey and watch what happens inside.
https://example.com/ A small journey begins
Our destination is https://example.com/. Press Open to follow what happens behind the scenes.
PC · https://example.com/
https://example.com/ PC This is a simplified educational model. Real communication is more complex.
How to play
Press Open to begin, then use Next and Previous to take one step at a time. Pick any scene from Journey steps to jump there, or use the ← / → arrow keys. Auto play stays on each scene for about four seconds.
Learn more
This example carries HTTPS over TCP. TLS contents are shown transparently for learning. IP and MAC addresses are illustrative, not the actual addresses of example.com. The model leaves out address translation between home and outside networks and the details of DNS. It also omits changes to the limit on how many links a packet can cross and to values used to detect data errors, as well as splitting or resending data and fetching extra images. Every link is drawn as Ethernet.