Web Hosting Industry Terms
Access - Microsoft advanced database creation and support software. It is very popular among web developers who maintain online databases with Windows NT or Windows Servers.
Active Server Page (ASP) - ASPs are HTML documents embedded with scripts (typically Microsoft's VB Script or Jscript or ASP.NET). These scripts are stored and processed by the server prior to being transferred to the web user.
ActiveX - A set of forms that outline how applications are to share information with each other. These applications are also known as controls.
Apache - One of the world's oldest Web server programs. Apache was built by a group of open-source programmers in the earlier day of Internet and is often used because of its outstanding performance and strong security features. This open-source program is also free.
Application Service Provider - A web service provider that manages software applications for servers and networks, such as website template builders, shopping cart, payment gateway, etc.
Backbone - A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. On the Internet there are several major backbone providers like AT&T, BBN Internet , MCI/SprintLink, PBI/Pacific Bell, Qwest, and US West.
Bandwidth - A large amount of data that can be transmitted at a given moment to a web server. The higher your bandwidth from your web service provider, the larger amount of traffic your website can handle at one time.
Broadband Subscriber - After designing their website, web hosting subscribers need to transfer files and images to their web hosting provider thru Internet connection. Broadband subscriber can transfer files 5-times faster than regular dial up users.
CGI - Short for Common Gateway Interface, a tiny scripts that process data taken from the user (such as from a form application or embedded cookies).
Cgi-bin - The directory on a Web server where CGI scripts are stored.
Client - Any software application, such as Internet browsers (i.e., Internet Explorer, Netscape), connected to the server and run to send/retrieve data to a server. This relationship between the "client" and the "server" is often referred to as a "client server relationship."
Co-location Hosting (Colo) - This hosting option gives web admin or webmasters complete control over their server. A web service subscriber is responsible for providing the physical hardware, software, and network administration; the hosting provider will provide the subscriber with the server space and high-speed Internet connection.
Cookie - A tiny text files that is dropped to web visitors thru Web browser from a Web server. Cookies are typically exchanged back and forth between the two in order to prepare custom content for users, and to exchange data like registration information.
Data Transfer - This is the total amount of data that a subscriber is allowed to transfer with a hosting provider. Data is this case usually refers to text and images. Typically refers to a data transfer allotment, most often in GB (gigabytes). Most of hosting plans comes with over 1 Gigabyte data transfer per month. 1 Gigabyte of data transfer is equivalent to about 50,000 page views per month.
Dedicated Hosting - A hosting plan that allows a subscriber to has its own hosting server. The server is not shared with any other website. A webmaster can has full control over the back end of the server, including choice of OS and shouting down the server, etc. The server administration, however, is still handled by the hosting provider.
Dial-up Account - To file transfer, access and update a web site, hosting subscribers need dial-up access to the Internet.
Diesel Generator - A diesel-powered generator used by hosting providers as a back-up source to generate electricity in the event of a power outage. Not all web hosting providers (incl. small hosting companies) provide diesel generator backup. This extra service was a significant feature during Summer time, especially during the early 2000s, many data centers in California were hit hard due to the power outage. In recent years, having a backup generator is the most important feature for data centers in South Florida due to Hurricane season.
Disk Space (Storage Space) - Amount of hard disk space available for storage of all web pages, HTML, CGI-bin programs, e-mail, log files, images, sound clips, audio, video clips, etc. 1MB equals one megabyte, or approximately million bytes. A 100K file would be 100,000 bytes. Most of hosting plans comes with over 500 MB which can stored over 25,000 pages.
DNS - Short for Domain Name System which is used to translate numeric addresses (known as IP, or Internet Protocol, addresses) into words or domain names.
Domain Names - Domain names are the word sequences users enter in their URL bar to visit a website. They are attached to a DNS, short for Domain Naming System, which is used to translate numeric addresses (known as IP, or Internet Protocol, addresses) into words. Each site you visit on the net has a numeric IP address behind its name.
Domain Name Parking - All domain names have to be stored on web servers after they have already been registered and recognized by the Internet protocol systems. Most domain registrars will therefore placing a newly purchased domain name on their servers, such as 1 page 'Under Construction' until a hosting plan is subscribed or the domain owner points the DNS to a different website. This process is known as domain parking service. In recent days, most domain registrars starting to provide paid parking service to high volume domain owners while they are waiting for their website to be designed.
Domain Name Registration - Refers to registering or purchasing a web address which can be used for a company brand, such as www.your-web-address.com.
Domain Name Servers - This contains the DNS (Domain Name System) information for a domain, and is usually listed in WHOIS records. There are usually two lines of DNS information. The first is typically a site's primary DNS information from the hosting provider, while the second contains secondary/back-up information.
Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) - Allows website subscribers to sell products and services online and accept credit card payment at the same time, usually through a payment gateway.
E-Mail Aliases/Forwarders - This is a very common practice that help a sole owner of a website to check his/her multiple email addresses at one single email account. E-mail forwarders and aliases are e-mail addresses such as billing@your-web-address.com or sales@your-web-address.com, which do not have a username/password as a "POP" account. Instead, a one person run business would set up both billing@your-web-address.com and sales@your-web-address.com to forward to a real POP account such as owner@your-web-address.com. The only real distinction between an alias and a forward, is than an alias will likely forward to another existing account at the same domain name. A forward might be sent to another e-mail account with a different Internet service provider than the web hosting provider: such as owner@your-web-address.com being forwarded to flowershop@aol.com.
E-Mail Autoresponders/Vacation Messages - Allow customers to set up an automatic message to respond to anyone who sends email to the customer.
File Extensions - In the DOS/Windows computer world, and UNIX as well, almost every file (anything on your computer that isn't a folder is a file in this context) must have some kind of extension. Example: index.htm would be a filename, where ".htm" is the file extension. On a PC in particular the operating system needs an extesion in order to determine what kind of file it is, and what to do with it when it is activated. With the internet, you may see extensions like .exe, .cgi, .asp, .htm, .jsp, .cfm, .tam, .php, .shtml, .pl, and many others. It is important to note that in some cases you have to be aware of the proper extension to use for a file depending on the environment in which the file will be used. customer.
Firewall - A piece of security software designed to protect Web servers. They are typically used to protect sites from hacker attacks/unauthorized access.
Flash - A popular piece of animation software developed by Macromedia. Flash is widely used on the Web because it requires little bandwidth, therefore making it friendly to users with low or high-speed connections.
FrontPage - A popular site design and management tool developed by Microsoft.
FTP - Short for File Transfer Protocol, a method of allowing remote users and Web servers to exchange files.
FTP Client - Software needed by the customer to upload content files to their Web site.
FTP Site/Anonymous FTP - Anonymous FTP is a dedicated area on a virtual or dedicated hosting domain for download of files, and even upload of files to an "incoming" folder. FTP is a special way to login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files.
Hosting Provider - An institution that provides Web space to companies or individuals, usually for money.
HTML - Short for HyperText Markup Language, the language by which Web servers and client browsers communicate. All server-side functions (such as database processing), although they may be performed in another language, must eventually be output back to the user in HTML.
HTTP - Stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol, the protocol by which HTML files move across the Internet. HTTP requires a client browser and an HTTP server (typically a Web server).
ICANN - Stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which is a not for profit organization that handles IP address space allocation and most other regulatory tasks associated with domain names.
IIS - Short for Internet Information Server, Microsoft's server software for Windows NT/2000.
Intranet - A vast internal network structured in a fashion similar to the Internet. Intranets are usually established by large corporate organizations to improve communication. The main difference between the Internet and an intranet is that access to intranets are restricted to authorized members only.
IP - Short for Internet Protocol, which designates the format of "data packets" that are used to exchange information over the Internet.
IP Address - The numeric address behind a domain name that holds a website's real location on the Web.
IRC - Short for Internet Relay Chat, a popular text-base multi-user chat network.
ISDN - Short for Integrated Services Digital Network, a high-speed solution to moving data over phone lines. It can transfer data at approximately 128,000 bits per second over a standard land line.
Linux - Operating Systems that is open source, meaning the source code to the Operating System has been made freely available to the public for modification.
Load Balancing - Distributing data across a network of servers in order to ensure that a single Web server does not get overloaded with work, thereby affecting performance.
Managed Hosting - A dedicated server that is accompanied by a full suite of technical support, maintenance and monitoring services. This differs from dedicated Web hosting, where customers are provided with their own servers but are still responsible for virtually all administrative and maintenance duties.
MIME - Short for Multipurpose Internet Email Extensions, a protocol that allows users to transfer non-text messages like audio, video and images through e-mail.
Mirror Sites - A mirror site is an exact copy of another FTP or Web site. These are used to offset/spread traffic load on busy Web sites.
Majordomo - An open-source server-based mailing list system, sometimes called a "reflector" or "list server" (ListServ is actually a similar product) because any message sent by a member to the list is re-sent ("reflected") to all the other list subscribers.
Megabyte (Megs or MB) - A million bytes (or, it is technically 1024 kilobytes).
MS Index Server - An add-on for Microsoft Internet Information server (see above) that indexes documents on Web or Intranet servers running IIS. The information is then presented to users in a searchable format.
Name Server - A server responsible for translating domain names and IP addresses.
Name Server Alias - An aliased name server is a name server that has been labeled as yours (the reseller's) despite the fact it actually belongs to your Web hosting provider. This ensures that domains located on your server are listed as "ns1.your-company-name.com" instead of "ns1.your-web-hoster-name.com".
NOC - Short for Network Operations Center, a hosting company's "home base," so to speak. The NOC is usually where most administration, technical support and physical server storage takes place. For more information, please refer to our article, Inside the NOC, here.
OC - Short for Optical Carrier, representing the speed of fiber-optic networks. OC speeds can range anywhere between 1 and 48. Most hosting companies have OC3 connections, which allows for the transfer of data at a rate of up to 155.52 Mbps.
Packet Switching - The method by which most data is exchanged throughout the Internet. Most data is broken down in to smaller "packets" prior to transfer, and then reassembled at the destination.
POP - Short for Post Office Protocol. An e-mail protocol that using email software such as Eudora or Outlook Express to communicate with mail servers.
Primary DNS - The Primary Domain Name Server for the customer's domain. These are the DNS IP numbers, usually preceeded by "ns1.your-provider-name.com" and "ns2.your-provider-name.com" and a domain must point at a DNS for it to "resolve" to a local virtual location.
Propagation - This is a process where name servers throughout the Internet worldwide servers add new domains and remove expired ones from their records. This can be a lengthy process, which is why accessing to a new domain name can take about 24 to 48 hours.
RAID - Short for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, a method of data protection/backup. Data is stored over a number of servers so that information will still be accessible if a piece of hardware/software crashes.
Reseller - A reseller operates components of a Web hosting operation using services, infrastructure and equipment provided by another Web hosting service. Some resellers operate full-fledged businesses using the hardware, software, network and logistical support of another Web hosting firm, while others simply operate as sales agents for other Web hosting companies, offering discounts and providing low-level technical support.
Scalability - The ability of a piece of software or hardware to expand/grow as if necessary.
Setup Up Fee - In addition to a monthly web hosting service fee for the disk space and bandwidth, a web hosting provider requires a one-time fee to set up your account in order to be functional. Usually, this is a hidden fee. This will be showing up on the final stage of your payment process.
Site Builder Tool - It is an instant web design tool to build your website, usually it is a free, full-featured web page building program. Subscribers don't need to know computer programming or HTML-- just use any popular Site Builder tools to drag and drop elements into a web page, choose colors and clip art, and create a personalized, interactive web site. Most Site Builder tools runs in any web browsers capable of supporting Java, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape.
Server - In a modern computing environment there are usually two kinds of computer classifications when more than one is connected together to create a network. The server is the computer which provides data and is the central repository, and/or gatekeeper between multiple "client" computers. A server can also be called a "host" because it hosts the data "served" to "clients."
Shared Hosting - The most basic of Web hosting types. With shared hosting, numerous Web sites are shared on one server. While an economic solution, they typically cannot handle large amounts of storage or traffic.
Shopping Cart - A program designed to handle the e-commerce section of a Web site. Shopping cart software lets users browse for and purchase products online.
SMTP - Short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, a protocol used by mail servers to exchange messages with each other.
SQL - Short for Standard Query Language. A standard protocol used to request information from databases. Servers which can handle SQL are known as SQL servers.
SSL - Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape to handle and protect confidential/sensitive information required for e-commerce transactions (like credit card numbers). SSL address usually begin with 'https://'.
Subdomain - Typically known as a "domain name within a domain name." Subdomains are individual Web addresses built upon a pre-existing domain name (such as clientname.your-web-address.com). As a reseller, you will have the option of assigning subdomains to clients if they do not choose to have a domain name.
T1 Connection - A phone or data connection that can support the transfer of up to 1.544Mbits of data per second. T1 connections are popular among businesses and ISPs. Most T1s are connected to T3, which can handle up to 43Mbits per second and are actual Internet backbone connections.
T-3 - A Leased-line high-speed connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits-per-second. This is more than enough to do full-screen and full-motion video.
Tape Back-up - A popular and inexpensive way to back up Web sites. Contents of a site are periodically stored that looks similar to a cassette. Some cassettes can store several gigabytes.
Telnet - A command-line interface that allows remote users and Web servers to communicate.
TCP - Short for Transmission Control Protocol, an important network protocol. TCP allows two hosts to connect and exchange data, and ensures that "data packets" are delivered exactly as sent.
TLD - Shot for Top Level Domain Names, the suffix for major domain names like .com, .net, .org, .biz, and .info.
Transfer - Total amount of data transferred from the customer's Web site to clients. Includes all HTML, Web pages, images, sounds, videos, etc. See Data Transfer.
UNIX - A text-based, multitasking Operating System suitable for Web and network administration. Unix has spawned numerous popular spinoffs, including Linux and FreeBSD. Most Unix-based Operating Systems are open source, meaning the source code to the Operating System has been made freely available to the public for modification. Most Web hosting companies and resellers offer Unix-based hosting in some capacity or other.
USENET - A network of thousands of discussion groups (known as newsgroups) on the Internet.
UUENCODE - Short for Unix to Unix Encoding, a method of converting images to ASCII (see above) text in order to be transferred over the Internet.
Virtual Host - A shared hosting solution, the most basic of hosting types. Numerous Web sites are shared on one server.
Virtualization - A process/software designed to reduce server management costs through automation, while providing more control over service levels.
Virtual Private Server (VPS) - A virtual private server provides most of the features of a dedicated server on a same machine that is shared with other web hosting customers. Customers receive hosting services that are similar to that of a dedicated web hosting, but they may have to sacrificing privacy or performance due to shared environment, disk space, and bandwidth.
Web Server - A cluster of computers, or a software package, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software (such as Apache or Windows servers) or to the machine on which the software is running.
Web Site or Website - A Web site is a collection of web pages that reside together on the World Wide Web and are connected. It usually connoted to a domain name or web address. Web site also refers to the server space allocated to a specific customer in a shared "virtual" server environment. Top10Hosting.com would be a "Web site," while the page you are reading now would be a "Web page."
Web Site Traffic Reporting - Reporting software to provide information such as the frequency of visits, page views, amount of data transfer, unique visitors, and total transfer sizes. Popular reporting tools include Analog, Hitbox, Urchin, Webalizer, and WebTrends.
WHOIS - A central database which tracks all domain names owner info, registrars name, and IP address registrations.
Windows NT/2000 or Windows Servers - This is a multitasking Operating Systems and graphic-based. Microsoft Corporation develops the OS over the past few years. This type of OS can act as standalone OS for personal computers/workstations, or can serve as an OS for a Web site/network. Most web hosting providers offer Windows-based hosting in some capacity or other.
XML - Short for Extensible Markup Language. XML is a language allowing developers to create their own markup tags. All XML tags are defined by the programmer, and can be interpreted differently in different applications. For example, the "" tag in HTML means Italics, but could mean anything in XML, depending on the function the developer assigns to it.
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