# Reading Response #1
## Sep 20th Tue-How the Web works
The function of the internet can be compared to the function of a shop. Clients and servers are the two main participants. Like a customer requests a good from a merchant, clients request access to a web page from the server. Clients are web users accessing the internet via web-connected devices, and servers are computers that store webpages. When a client requests access to a webpage, the server downloads a copy of the webpage onto the client's web browser. One can picture this transaction like one in a shop - the client requests the good, the server provides the good. The internet contains a plethora of tools to secure and strengthen this process, including TCP/IP, Domain Name System, Component files, and HTTPS, or hypertext transfer protocols. HTTPS essentially secures the transaction between a client and a server. When a client requests a server, the request must travel through many different networks in order to reach the server. When the request is sent through HTTP, it is sent in plain text, while HTTPS provides stronger security for websites who want to authenticate with a signed certificate.
Though the internet's basic function can be simplified to a customer-merchant comparison, there are many components that contribute to making this function efficient and secure. Though there are many aspects of the internet that I have questions about, my biggest question is how far the client's request must travel to reach the server. Hartley Brody explains the importance of HTTPs by emphasizing how far the internet users' data must travel. However, he does not explain why these requests must travel so far nor why it is important that HTTPs secure this data on its journey. I hope to learn about the importance of HTTP, HTTPS, and other internet functions in class. Since the internet is so important to society and my own personal everyday life, learning about how it works is very valuable to me.