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  Web Hosting Dictionary:
Develop Your Host Vocabulary
Understanding all the terms associated with web hosting can be a difficult task. Here at TheHostingStop.com, we strive to provide the most educational resources. This dictionary has been designed to help webmasters of all levels of education.
 
-Choose a letter for quick results-
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z
A
ADO: (ActiveX Data Objects) A component object model designed for accessing various data sources. ActiveX Data Objects facilitate the communication between specific programming languages and data sources. A Windows based technology that can be utilized with most Windows web hosting plans.
 
Anonymous FTP: An FTP option that allows users to download files without having to establish and account.
 
Apache: Open source web server software.
 
Applet: A Java application that can be embedded onto a website page. The applets are generaly used for showing statistics, graphs, or news tickers.
 
Asp Hosting: Web hosting that supports Active Server Pages (a server-side scripting environment from Microsoft).
 
AUP: (Acceptable Use Policy) A document that defines the non-appropriate and appropriate uses for specific web hosting services.
 
Autoresponder: A program that sends a designed, automatic, response to incoming emails.

B
Backbone Network: A network connecting different networks to each another.
 
Bandwidth: The amount of data that can be transmitted, in a time period, through a individual communications channel. Recorded as kilobits per second (kbps).
 
Browser: A software program used to surf the Internet. Examples of browser software programs are; Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera and Firefox.
 
Burstable Bandwidth: A domain hosting option that allows web sites to use the networks full capacity to handle periods of peak usage.
 
Business Hosting: Web hosting developed to provide the essential functions demanded by business-class customers.

C
Catch-All: An email address that is setup to receive any email sent to email addresses that are no longer available on the same domain.
 
CGI: (Common Gateway Interface) A server-side communication standard supported by most web servers. It allows for access to external programs from another web page. Ready-made CGI scripts are offered by most host providers.
 
CGI-BIN: The standard name for a directory where CGI scripts and programs are stored. BIN stands for binary.
 
CMS: (Content Management System) A software application designed to store, manage and present data. This system uses database repositories to store data. Data gets presented to the end user, using server-side scripting & programming.
 
Cold Fusion Hosting: Web hosting that supports ColdFusion, a web application language designed by Allaire & currently owned by Macromedia.
 
Co-Located Hosting: Best described as a client housing their web server at another company's location for Internet connectivity.
 
CPanel: The standard control panel for Linux & UNIX operating systems. CPanel is a web based, easy-to-use, web hosting administration tool.

D
Database: Used to describe the collection of data and the software tool used to manage this data. All databases use a common programming language called SQL (Structured Query Language), for managing connecting data.
 
Data Transfer: The total amount of outbound traffic from a web domain. Generally referred to in terms of GB (GigaBytes)
 
Dedicated Hosting: Web hosting service where the host provides an entire server to an individual or company. The host is responsible for maintaining equipment.
 
Dedicated IP: An individual IP address dedicated to a single website.
 
Disk Space: The total amount of hard drive space on a server, designated for a single web site.
 
DNS: (Domain Name System), a common directory used to translate between IP addresses and domain names.
 
Domain Name: The name that distinguishes a specific web site. A name that can only be used by one person or company.
 
Domain Parking: A nameserver for domains that have not obtained hosting. A temp position until hosting is established.
 
Domain Transfer: The act of transferring a domain name from one domain register to another.

E
Ecommerce Hosting: A hosting package option that provides merchants the ability to accept product or services orders online.
 
Email Forwarding: Will automatically send e-mail messages from one e-mail address to another e-mail address.
 
Email Hosting: Web host plan that allows users to store & send email messages.
 
Ensim: A company that offers hosting control panels for both Windows & Linux.

F
Firewall: A security system that protects from unauthorized access to a network.
 
Free Web Hosting: Basic web hosting that is offered at no cost.
 
FrontPage: User-friendly software for publishing and developing web pages. Developed by Microsoft and uses a WYSIWYG web editor. The editor allows clients to preview the page that is being worked.
 
FrontPage Extensions: A set of server add-on scripts and programs that will enable the special functions of Microsoft FrontPage.
 
FrontPage Hosting: A hosting package that supports FrontPage, a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) website building tool from Microsoft.
 
FTP: (File Transfer Protocol) A protocol used to transfer files over the Internet.

G
Gateway: This is a network node. It is used for communication between networks that use different network protocols.
 
GBPS: (Gigabits Per Second) A measurement of data transmission speed. GBPS is equivalent to billions of bits per second.
 
GIF: (Graphic Image Format) A format used for images. Has a limitation of 256 colors.
 
Gigabyte: A digital data measurement. One Gigabyte is equivalent to 1024 Megabytes or 1,073,741,824 Bytes.
 
Gopher: A menu-based system for browsing Internet resources.

H
High Bandwidth Hosting: Web hosting that provides the capacity to handle above average traffic volumes.
 
Hosting: Data storage and data connectivity to a web site. This is the act of getting a website online.
 
HTML: (HyperText Markup Language) HTML is a language used to design hypertext documents that are not dependent on a platform..
 
HTTP: (HyperText Transfer Protocol) The primary protocol used when transmitting files over the Internet.

I
IIS: (Internet Information Services) Microsoft web server software.
 
IP Address: (Internet Protocol) Address, a number used to identify a computer or hardware on the internet or internal network.
 
ISP: (Internet Service Provider) Provides access to the Internet and numerous web services for individuals and businesses. This service is offered as a dial-up, Cable Internet or DSL connection service.

J
Java: A classic object-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. Language for creating network applications and applets.
 
JavaScript: This script interacts with HTML source code, allowing for dynamic interactive content. JavaScript IS NOT connected to the Java programming language. All up-to-date browsers support JavaScript.
 
JPEG: (Joint Photographic Experts Group), is a file format that is designed for compressing full color images. Higher quality compared to GIF full-color images.

K
KBPS: (Kilobits Per Second) A measurement of data transmission speed. KBPS is equivalent to thousands of bits per second.
 
Kilobyte: A digital data measurement. One Kilobyte is equivalent to 1024 Bytes.

L
Linux Hosting: Web hosting that supports Linux platforms, an open source operating system that is derived from Unix.
 
Load Balancing: Seperating the load of a single web site or service over several web servers.
 
Log Analyzer: A program that takes the raw log file data and summarizes it into easily-to-understand reports.
 
Log File: A file that keeps records of the activity on a individual web server.

M
Multi-Domain Plan: A hosting option that allows multiple domain names to share the resources of a single hosting account.
 
MBPS: (Megabits Per Second) A measurement of the data transmission speed. MBPS is equivalent to millions of bits per second.
 
Megabyte: A digital data measurement. One Megabyte is equivalent to 1024 Kilobytes or 1,048,576 Bytes.
 
MIME: (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) A protocol for allowing e-mail messages to hold multiple types of data. e.g simple text, audio, video & images.
 
MySQL: An open source database management system. Available on multiple platforms; Windows, Linux , UNIX, and Mac. MySQL offers both free and paid variations. Considered a low cost system, and offered by most hosting providers.

N
Name Server: Server software used to translate domain names into IP addresses.
 
.NET Hosting: (dot net) Web domain hosting that works with .NET, an application framework by Microsoft.
 
NIC Handle: (Network Information Centre) A unique alphanumeric character string representing an entry in the databases maintained by Network Information Centers. When a new domain name is registered with a registrar, a NIC handle is assigned by the registrar. They set the data related to the domain name.
 
Node: Any individual computer or digital tool connected to a network.

O
OC1: A Fiber Optic Connection with the ability to transfer data at 51.85 Mbps.
 
OC3: A Fiber Optic Connection with the ability to transfer data at 155.52 Mbps.
 
OC12: A Fiber Optic Connection with the ability to transfer data 622.08 Mbps.
 
OC24: A Fiber Optic Connection with the ability to transfer data at 1.244 Gbps.
 
OC48: A Fiber Optic Connection with the ability to transfer data at 2.488 Gbps.
 
OC192: A Fiber Optic Connection with the ability to transfer data at 9.952 Gbps.
 
ODBC: (Object Database Connectivity) A standard API for accessing a database from specific computer programs.

P
Perl: (Practical Extraction and Report Language) Designed for text processing and uses a very advanced text-processing format. Known for a powerful regular expression engine, and for writing CGI scripts. Mainly used for developing dynamic web sites, and domains with a database backend.
 
PHP Hosting: Website hosting that supports PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor), an open source server-side scripting language.
 
Primary Name Server: The server that houses all the authoritative information regarding the domain & IP address.

R
Raw Logs: Records the line-by-line activity of a server. It does not summerize the activity.
 
Reseller Hosting: When a company selling hosting to consumers uses the datacenter and equipment from another provider company.
 
Resolve: Matching a domain name with its IP address. The DNS servers convert domain names to IP addresses.
 
Root: Root directory of a file system or the top of the Domain Name System hierarchy. Root is also a UNIX client account

S
Secondary Server: A backup server in case of possible problems with the primary servers
 
Second Level Domain: The next level in the DNS hierarchy under the top-level web domains.
 
Setup Fee: The fee issued by a host providers to cover the cost of setting up a customers domain online. This is usually a one-time fee only.
 
Shared Hosting: Hosting that places several client websites on a single server. Multiple web domains sharing server space to save on cost.
 
Shared IP: An IP address shared by multiple website domains.
 
Shopping Cart: Internet software used to make a web site's product catalogue available for online ordering. Needed to sell goods and services online.
 
Site Monitoring: A service that regularly checks a web site, and alerts the administrator when problems arise.
 
SQL: (Structured Query Language) SQL is a relational database query language. It was designed for creating, managing, querying, and updating RDBMS. SQL is standards for ANSI and ISO.
 
SQL Hosting: A host service that allows websites the ability to have a database backend. It is offered on both Windows and Linux. SQL hosting provides the ability to use various databases and flexibility for web developers to created top end, well structured websites.
 
SSI: (Server Side Include) Most often utilized when data is common on multiple pages. They have specific syntax that tell the web server to generate specific data, when added to a website page.
 
SSL: (Secured Sockets Layer) A protocol that allows encrypted, authenticated communication over the Internet.

T
T1: A transmission line with the ability to transfer data at 1.544 Mbps.
 
T3: A transmission line with the ability to transfer data at 44.746 Mbps.
 
Template: A pre-developed part of a webpage that is used as a blueprint for the entire website. A set outline of images, text space and other editable tables.
 
Terabyte: A digital measurement of data units. A SingleTerabyte is the equivalent of 1,024 Gigabytes or 1,099,511,627,776 Bytes.
 

U
Unix Hosting: Domain web hosting that supports Unix platforms.
 
Unlimited Bandwidth: A marketing term that offers users a hosting plan that will not charge for extra fees on very high levels of data transfer. Read the fine print!
 
UPS: (Uninterruptible Power Source) This source is used as a back-up power source for web host servers and PC networks. Secures uninterupted services through municiple power outages.
 
Uptime Guarantee: The assurance from a hosting provider, that the host company's uptime will meet the agreed-upon percentage.
 
URL: (Uniform Resource Locator) The standard identifying address for locating specific websites, webpages, or other documents online.

V
VBScript: (Visual Basic Scripting) A sub-set of Visual Basic programming language.This script can be embedded onto web pages and can be used for client-side scripting on Internet Explorer. It can also be executed on the Web Server IIS, using ASP applications and ASP pages.
 
VPN: (Virtual Private Network) Allows for the secure transmission of data over a public TCP or IP network by encrypting all the traffic between different networks. This network uses tunneling protocols to encrypt IP level information.

W
WAN: (Wide Area Network) A PC network covering a sizable geographical area. The largest WAN is the Internet.
 
Web Hosting: The online service of providing the storage, connectivity, and services necessary for websites to be placed online.
 
Web Hosting Control Panel: ( Backend ) A web interface provided by most hosting companies that allows customers to administer their account.
 
Web Mail: Email that is accessed through a web browser.
 
Web Server: A large scale computer that stores and delivers web pages when requested by the web browsers of client computers.
 
Whois: Acentralized database tracking all domain names and IP registrations.
 
Windows Hosting: Domain web hosting that supports windows platforms.
 
WWW: (World Wide Web) A collection of information on PC's and data servers located anywhere around the world, connected by links.
 
WYSIWYG: (What You See Is What You Get) Editor software with graphical interface. This software will show what the document will look like when displayed with the proper viewer.

X
XHTML: (Extensible HyperText Markup Language) The XHTML documents are XML based. This is an extension of HTML 4.
 
XML: (Extensible Markup Language) A document file format that represents structured information. It contains both content and information about how to interpret the content.

Z
Zone File: A reference to a DNS entry. These files contain all the IP address, mail server address, and sub-domain data about a single domain.
 
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