How do computers send and receive data over the internet?

Computers send and receive data over the internet using a set of protocols collectively called the Internet Protocol suite, or TCP/IP.

When you type a website's address in your browser and hit enter, your computer sends a request to a Domain Name System (DNS) server to resolve the domain name into an IP address. Once the IP address is obtained, your computer creates a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection with the server hosting the website.

The data is then broken down into packets that are sent over the connection using the Internet Protocol (IP). Each packet contains a source and destination IP address, as well as a payload of data. The packets are sent across multiple network devices, such as routers and switches, until they reach their destination.

At the destination, the packets are reassembled and presented to the receiving application, which could be a website, email client, or other program. The receiving computer sends an acknowledgment packet back to the sender, letting it know that the data has been received.