| Bandwidth The amount of data that can be
transmitted at a given moment to a server. The higher your
bandwidth, the larger amount of traffic your site can handle
at one time. |
| CGI Short for Common Gateway Interface,
a small script that processes data taken from the user (such
as from a form application). |
| Cgi-bin The directory on a Web server
where CGI scripts are stored. |
| Co-located hosting This hosting option
gives webmasters complete control over their server. You are
responsible for providing the physical hardware and network
administration; the hosting company will provide you with the
rack space and Internet connection. |
| Cookie A text file sent to a user's 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. |
| Dedicated hosting A hosting feature that
allows a Web site to have its own server. This is more
flexible than shared hosting (see below), as webmasters
typically have full control over the back end of the server,
including choice of OS. Administration, however, is still
handled by the hosting company. |
| Domain names Domain names are the word
sequences users enter in their URL bar to visit your site.
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. |
| 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. |
| 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). |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Newsgroup A USENET discussion group (see
below). |
| 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. |
| Parking All domain names have to be
stored on a server in order to be purchased. Most domain
registration services will therefore temporarily place a newly
purchased name on their servers until a hosting plan is
purchased or the owner points the DNS to a different site.
This is known as parking. |
| POP Short for Post Office Protocol. An
e-mail protocol that mail software such as Eudora use to
communicate with mail servers. |
| 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. |
| 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 within a domain", subdomains are individual
Web addresses built upon a pre-existing domain name (such as
clientname.yourhostingcompany.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. |
| 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, the
suffix for major domain names like .com, .net and .org. |
| 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; see above) 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 the features of a dedicated server on
a machine that is shared by other Web hosting customers.
Customers therefore get hosting services that are similar to
that of dedicated Web hosting without sacrificing privacy or
performance. |
| WHOIS A central database which tracks
all domain name/IP registrations. |
| Windows NT/2000 These are graphic-based,
multitasking Operating Systems developed over the past few
years by Microsoft. Both can act as standalone OS for personal
computers/workstations, or can serve as an OS for a Web
site/network. Most Web hosting companies and resellers 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. |
