Demo - Glossary Chains

How the web works

Hover over any dotted term to open a tooltip. Tooltips can contain more dotted terms - hover those to open nested chains. The chain is depth-capped at 4 to prevent infinite recursion (mutual references like HTTP, DNS terminate cleanly).

Try: hover DNS then hover CDN inside the tooltip then HTTP then HTTPS then TLS then CA. That's a 5-deep chain.

When you type a URL, the first step is a DNS lookup to resolve the domain to an IP address. The browser then sends an HTTP request to that address - over HTTPS if the site supports it.

The response often comes from a CDN edge server rather than the origin. The CDN caches static assets near the user, reducing latency. Dynamic content still requires a trip to the origin.

The TLS handshake happens before any HTTP traffic: the client verifies the server's certificate (issued by a CA) and negotiates a symmetric cipher.

If the certificate is invalid or expired, the browser shows a warning. If it's valid, the encrypted connection is established and the HTTP request travels inside the TLS tunnel.

Glossary

Six entries defined once at the provider - the appendix collects them automatically; no list is passed by hand. Each definition cross-references other terms, so the chain HTTP -> HTTPS -> TLS -> CA runs four levels deep before the depth cap closes it. Inside the appendix, references become anchor links instead of tooltips.

HTTP

HyperText Transfer Protocol - the request/response protocol behind the web. HTTPS is the TLS-encrypted variant. Every web page you visit starts with an HTTP request after a DNS lookup.

HTTPS

HTTP over TLS. The handshake negotiates a symmetric key, then all traffic is encrypted. Requires a certificate from a certificate authority.

TLS

Transport Layer Security - the cryptographic protocol that secures HTTPS connections. Replaced the deprecated SSL. The handshake involves a certificate exchange and a key negotiation.

Certificate Authority

A trusted third party that signs TLS certificates, vouching that a public key belongs to a specific domain. Let's Encrypt issues them for free via automated DNS or HTTP challenges.

DNS

Domain Name System - translates domain names to IP addresses. A CDN uses DNS to route users to the nearest edge server. The lookup happens before any HTTP traffic.

CDN

Content Delivery Network - geographically distributed servers that cache HTTP responses near the user. Reduces latency by serving from the nearest edge rather than the origin.