You must have heard the terms “download” and “upload” many times. But what do these terms actually mean in the tech world? How does the process work when uploading a file to a website or downloading something from the web?
These are basic terms that any web user should understand. These terms come into play when subscribing to the internet, doing a speed test, troubleshooting network problems, choosing your internet speed, or in many other situations. Let’s take a look at what these terms mean and cover the basics for a better understanding of the processes.
What is Upload?
We can summarize the term upload in the web environment in simple terms as “sending” something. You can think of it as uploading data to cloud environment, server. So in this case, there is a counterparty. In foreign sources, this process is sometimes referred to as “upwards”.
When you upload something to a website, another user’s computer, or a network location, you are sending data from your device to the other device. Files can be uploaded to a server where the website is maintained, or directly to another device, such as in file transfer applications.
For example, you uploaded your photo to a social media platform. In this case, you send your photo to the social media site, or more accurately, to the server of the website. You are the source of the file, and it arrived elsewhere. For something to be “upload” it doesn’t matter the file type or where it goes. This term can be used for any data transfer. We can reproduce examples such as sending documents to a colleague via email, uploading a video to YouTube, or uploading music to your online music collection.
What is Download?
Unlike sending to the other party, download means to download or in other words to save. In this case, on the contrary, we get data from another source. Likewise, it doesn’t matter what you download. We have “downloaded” something when we receive data from a different location for a phone, computer, tablet or any device, regardless of size. All kinds of information can be downloaded from the web: books, movies, software, etc.
For example, you are watching a movie while traveling; In this process, the actual data that makes up the movie is retrieved from the site (server) and saved on your phone, making it available locally. While watching a live broadcast on Twitch, we actually download some data. While the broadcaster sends the data upstream, you receive the bits to watch the broadcast (downstream).
Download and Upload Relationship
While using the internet, we can download and upload simultaneously. Open your web browser and go to Google.com. You searched for a word (uploading) and the search results came up (downloading). Every search term you enter is sent to the site as small bits of data to request what you’re looking for. Since each of these requests you send starts on your device and ends on Google servers, this is actually an upload process. When we want to see the results, small bits are sent to us to create the web page we are viewing. So we’re taking things from the other side.
For a more concrete example, consider the email scenario. When you send a photo to someone via e-mail, you are uploading the pictures to an e-mail server (like Hotmail, Gmail). When you want to save photo attachments from someone who sent you an e-mail, you download them to your device.
Data Transfer Process
Uploads and downloads always happen in the background. While using a technological device, countless data transfers up and down in the background. In fact, most of the time we don’t need to follow this process, but knowing the difference is important in some cases.
For example, when connecting the internet to your home, you will see speed values such as 50 Mbps download (download speed) and 5 Mbps upload (upload speed). For most people, download speeds are more important than upload speeds. Standard users do not need very high upload speeds. However, with the changing internet usage needs, upload speeds have become much more important. Whether it’s for work, gaming or broadcasting, you need to know your needs when using the internet. In addition, you can pay higher internet bills than you need when you don’t have any information.
File Download
Some people prefer streaming rather than downloading. These are similar things, but technically they are not the same.
For example, there are platforms that allow you to watch movies online instead of downloading them. Although the data is uploaded in real time, it is not permanently saved on your device. Let’s take Netflix as an example. When you start watching a series or movie directly after logging in to the application, you receive data, that is, you download it again. However, the things you watch won’t save to the device. On the other hand, there is a separate section for downloading the content. When you save a movie permanently, you can watch it later whenever you want.
If you want to watch movies, edit documents or listen to music without an internet connection, you must download the file completely. However, in order to access the content, you have to wait for the download to complete.
Internet Protocols
There are basic network protocols that support data uploads and downloads. As the most important protocol, we can cite FTP (File Transfer Protocol) as an example, which uses servers/clients to send and receive data between devices. FTP provides fast file transfer between two computers connected to the Internet. You can use the FTP application to download files as well as upload files.
Another is HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), the protocol used when you send and receive data through your web browser. After entering the address or IP address of the site you want to enter in the browser bar, a connection request is sent to the site with the help of HTTP. A connection is established with the server of the site that accepts this connection request and you enter the website.
