Reference
This is a curated, step-through model of one web request, not a network capture or a DNS resolver. Diagrams show roles and order, not real packets, timings or routes. The IP address shown is one real DNS answer for the example site on the day this was made; answers vary by place and time. The load balancer, reverse proxy and backend stages show one typical site topology, not one observed from the real site. Challenge answers are practice, not a measure of mastery.
Progress is remembered only in this browser, on this device, using local storage. Nothing about your visit is sent or synced anywhere; Start again clears it.
The journey is one simplified HTTPS-over-TCP path. Real visits take shortcuts: DNS caches skip lookups, reused connections skip the handshake, and newer protocols such as HTTP/3 reshape the path further. What stays true is the order of ideas: name, address, connection, seal, route, work, reply.