Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)

The concept of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) is closely tied to the DNS system and the client-server model. A URL consists of several distinct sections that combined allow an end user to use a client (a Web browser) to send a request to a host (a Web server) for specific data (a Web page).

Breaking Down a URL:

1. In addition to TCP/IP, other protocols are used on the Internet for interaction between clients and servers. In the case of the above URL, the client is using the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). This is a special protocol reserved for the interaction between a Web client (a Web browser) and a Web server.
2. Next is the domain name to which the client will be sending a request. Remember that this is the Domain Name of the server and that the DNS System maps this readable name to a specific IP address.
3. To get more specific about the data sought, additional information is added on after the host (domain) name. The additional information refers to directories or folders in which the data requested may be found.
4. Lastly, there is the name of the specific file to be retrieved. In the case of a Web page, the file is usually an HTML file. Other files can also be retrieved however, including executable files (.exe) and word processing documents (.doc).

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