Web Hosting Glossary
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*nix
Shorthand abbreviation for "Unix, Linux, SCO-Unix, Sun Solaris, and all other Unix-like operating systems".
Apache
Apache is web server software, written and maintained by the Apache Foundation and made available under the GPL. Apache is open source software.
Access
Access is a Microsoft database. Often used with ASP when on a server. It is also installed on most computers that use Windows since it is a member of the Microsoft Office suite.
ASP (Active Server Pages)
ASP is a sever script languge. Mainly used with Windows servers, but can run on *nix servers as well.
Bandwidth
Also called "transfer" or "traffic", bandwidth is the number of megabytes/gigabytes handled by a web server. Sending or receiving email, viewing pages, transferring files to or from your account with FTP, stored databases all are counted in determining how much bandwidth you use in a given month.
CGI
Acronym for "Common Gateway Interface". CGI is a standard for external applications, such as databases, to communicate with web servers. A web page exists in a static form. Information on it will not change unless an external script is used to run commands in real time and make the page content dynamic. CGI scripts can be written in any one of many different languages, including AppleTalk, VisualBasic, C++, and Python. The most popular CGI scripting language by far is Perl.
Control Panel
A private area that allows you to set up email addresses and forwarders, change your account information, create SQL databases, or manage any other aspect of your account.
Co-located Server
A co-located server is a server that you share with someone else.
Cron Jobs
Executes a file on the server at a preset time or interval.
Data Center
A building containing loads of web servers.
Dedicated Server
A leased server at a datacenter.
Disk Space
The space on the hard disk that is alloted for a hosting account.
Domain Name
www.domain.com is an example of an domain. Other examples are www.cnn.com, www.tophostingdeals.com. Most countries have their own extensions.
DNS
Acronym for "Domain Name Server". DNS is a database that domain registrars update so that when you type www.domainname.com into your browser, the computer knows which IP address you are trying to reach.
Email Account
An account that stores messages on a server, are password-protected, and can be accessed by your computer's email client or by a web-based email application.
Email Forwarder, Email Forwarding
An email address that passes along (forwards) all messages to another email address, most often an email account.
FTP
Acronym for "File Transfer Protocol". This is the standard protocol most often used to upload files from a computer to a web server. There are standalone programs, such as WS_FTP or CuteFTP or Fetch, that you can use to transfer files between your computer and your account. Many WYSIWYG and text editing programs for web pages, such as FrontPage, DreamWeaver, GoLive and others have ways to let you FTP pages up to your account, so that you don't need to purchase a separate FTP program.
Gigabyte (GB)
A gigabyte is a measurement of disk space on a computer/server.
1 Gigabyte = 1000 Megabytes.
GPL
Acronym for the "GNU Public License", one of the main licensing documents under which most open source software is distributed. The GPL states that anyone using open source software code in any applications they create must make the relevant code of their applications available for free public viewing under the GPL.
Host Account
An account for space for a web page and also for using email.
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
This is what a web server uses to send a web page to a browser.
IP Address
A four-segment number (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) assigned to a computer connected to and visible on the Internet. Because IP addresses are not easy for most people to remember, the domain name system was constructed. The original five domains were .com, .net, .org, .mil, and .edu. Other top level domains are being added as the demand for domain names continue to rise.
Linux
An operating system, similar in some respects to Unix. Unlike Unix, Linux is open source software available under the GPL, and is not claimed as a trademark by any company.
Managed Server
A server that you manage yourself.
Mailserver
A server that handles a clients email. Can be on the same server as the web server.
Megabyte
A megabyte is a measurement of disk space on a computer/server.
MySQL
An open source database query language, similar to SQL. You can read more about it here.
Parked Domain
A domain which is owned by someone, but does not point at an IP. Domains are parked to "put a hold" on a domain, especially if the registered owner of the domain does not have a site but doesn't want the domain to be used by anyone else (a trademark issue, a person's name, et cetera). Many places, including Scribehost, will park domains for no charge.
Perl
A programming language and software written by Larry Wall. Perl is one of the most popular, most frequently used languages on the Internet. Perl is open source software, and is licensed under the GPL.
PHP
PHP is a server side scripting language and is open source, available under the GPL. It is similar in concept and capabilities to SSI, ASP, and JSP.
Pointed Domain
A domain that points to a directory or subdirectory on your account. For example, if you owned www.yourdomain.com and www.yourdomain.net, only one domain could be connected to your account. The other one would merely be pointed at it. In terms of using either domain to view your site, people could type in either address and be directed to your pages.
POP
An acronym for "Point Of Presence". All POP email address can be accessed through any email account; and all email accounts are tied to a POP email address.
Red Hat
A version of Linux.
Reseller
An account with a host that allow the costumer to resell hosting to other clients.
SEO
Acronym for "Search Engine Optimisation". Search engine optimisation is a process of crafting a site's content so that the site gets high rankings in the various search engines (both the site and individual pages), and includes tailoring on-page text (such as headlines and subtitles) as well as choosing the proper keywords for a page's meta tags.
Shared Server
More than one host account on one server.
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
A protocol for sending email messages between servers.
SQL
Acronym for "Structured Query Language", a language widely used in programming and working with databases.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
A protocol for managing the security of transmissions on the Internet.
SSI
Acronym for "Server Side Includes". SSI pages are constructed of a main file and several included files. These included files often contain text or images that are the same on multiple pages, and need to be updated simultaneously when there is a change.
Subdomain
A subsection of a domain. Domains to not have their own IP address; instead, all traffic going to a subdomain first looks for the domain's IP address, then checks to see which subfolder's main page should be displayed. For example, if you had a site www.yourdomain.com and a subdomain pictures.yourdomain.com, the content could also be reached by typing in the longer URL www.yourdomain.com/pictures/.
Ticket System
A web based system for client support. An other example of support is via direct email.
TOS (Terms of Service)
The rules of a hosting company that costumers are required to follow.
Trouble Ticket
A question sent from a client to the host support, a ticket system would be used for this.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
Also known as a Domain Name, a URL is an address you enter into a web browser to access different sites on the Internet.
Web Host
A business that provides web hosting accounts to clients. Any computer used exclusively to connect to the Internet and make documents available, accept email, and route Internet traffic. It requires additional software, available either commercially (such as Microsofts' IIS) or for free (such as Apache).
Web Server
A web server is a computer that is constantly connected to the Internet. It stores websites and other information that can be accessed by people connected to the Internet.
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