<< Go Back
to Articles
You don't have to memorize these
to buy a hosting plan. Use this
more as a glossary.
Access Microsoft's
advanced database creation and
maintenance software. This
database is popular among web
developers that work with
Windows NT.
Active Server Page (ASP)
- ASPs are HTML documents
embedded with scripts, these are
ran and processed by the server
before transferring results to
the visitor.
ActiveX A set of
properties that define how
applications are to share
information with each other.
These properties are known as
controls.
Aliased Nameservers An
aliased nameserver is a
nameserver 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 "ns.yourservername.com"
instead of "ns.yourprovidersname.com".
Also see NAMESERVER below.
Apache One of the world's
most popular Web server
programs, Apache was built by a
group of open-source programmers
and is often used because of its
outstanding performance, strong
security features and the fact
that it is free.
Application Service Provider
A third party that manages
software applications for
servers and networks.
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.
Diesel Generator A
diesel-powered generator used by
hosting companies as a back-up
source to generate electricity
in the event of a power outage.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Propagation The process
where name servers throughout
the Internet add new domains and
remove expired ones from their
records. This can be a lengthy
process, which is why connecting
to a new domain name can often
take three or four days.
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
necessary.
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.
What's Next?
|
