Step 1 – I type kayak.com into Safari browser.

Step 2 – DNS translates this request into an IP address and routes the request to the appropriate Kayak server(s).

Step 3 – Kayak’s server(s) respond back with the appropriate data sent in packets.

Step 4 – The Safari browser then translates in data from the packets to render the Kayak Homepage, including text and images.

Step 5 – I select “Round-trip” and enter “From” and “To” airports, “Depart” and “Return” dates, select number of travelers from the drop down menu, and check the “nonstops only” option. I then click on the “Find Flights” button.

Step 6 – This request is again sent to the appropriate Kayak server(s) and the server(s) respond with the appropriate data sent in packets (in this case, that data is the flight search results).

Step 7 – The Safari browser translates the packets containing the flight search results and renders them into a combination of text and images.