What actually happens when you type in www.google.com? Well, its like shopping with a credit card. You can buy as much or as little as you want, but no matter what you buy, you have to swipe your credit card to purchase it all.
When you visit a website, you have to give that website a little information before you can view the page. That information is always the same. That information is the site's URL, in the case, it is www.google.com. If you visit my blog the information you would send is http://summerbreak05.blogspot.com. Sending that URL is like swiping your credit card. You can get an entire webpage back, just by sending out that URL.
Glossary time. Uploading is anytime information is sent FROM your computer TO the internet. Downloading is the reverse. Information is sent FROM the internet TO your computer.
So going to www.gooogle.com is like buying a furniture set with a credit card. In terms of physical space, you used a 1 inch peice of plastic and are taking home a pickup truck full of stuff. You upload a tiny piece of information to www.google.com and they give you a lot back (their webpage).
Uploading pictures is like going to a pawn shop. You take a bunch of stuff to a shop and walk out with cash. You send in a lot of information and take back just a tiny bit.
So Xbox LIVE uses more upload space. Browsing the internet is more downloading. But if someone is uploading pictures and using LIVE at the same time, its like two people cahsing in their life's belongings at the same pawn shop at the same time. It would be madness.
Which is what happens. Both LIVE and the upload process conflict with each other and make both slower and less efficient.
Stay tuned for my next class which will be Networking 103: The Router. If you want to know how to network multiple devices AND configure your router's firewall properly, I will guide the way.
If you are a particularly adventorous soul, you can check out www.port-forward.com for some helpful tips and guides on how to get the most out of your router.
What a totally great explanation. Did you come up with those analogies on your own or did you find them somewhere? Impressive. Can't wait til 103. Hope I can keep up. :)
Yeah, actually I did come up with all the analogies myself. I felt bad when my wonderful "Networking 101" description confuesed some, so I decided a different approach.
Glad it all made sense!