In most homes, when a sump pump is installed, it is installed along with a french drain (at least that’s what they call it around here). Essentially, they go through any concrete to dig a trench in the floor about a foot or two down all along the inside of the foundation. Into the hole they put gravel and usually a plastic pipe 3–4 inches in diameter. The pipe actually has holes all along its sides so the water from the foundation makes its way into the pit and into the pipe in that fashion. The ends of the pipe route around and end up dumping into the sump pump pit itself.
The pipe is sometimes fitted with a cloth sleeve, but not always, and is topped off with more gravel and fresh concrete on top of that. The sump pump pit is usually in a corner of the basement and is about 3 feet deep. From inside the sump pump pit you can actually see the pipes coming in from where they run parallel to the walls to drain the pipes. The pipes are usually fairly high up in the pit and the pump sits on the bottom to pump the water up and out and, presumably, away from your foundation.