Web Hosting Glossary

Here are some of the more common terms used in this glossary of Web hosting.

404 error
HTTP standard response code indicating that the client was able to communicate with the server but the server could not find what was requested.

500 error
A generic server error message, given when no more specific message is suitable.

.com
A top level commercial domain extension usually reserved for business and profit organizations and companies, although anyone can reserve a .com domain.

.net
Top level domain extension abbreviated to mean ‘network’, can be used for any type of Web site.

.org
Top level domain extension abbreviated to mean organization and generally reserved for non profit organizations.

Apache
The most popular http server software that runs on Linux and is open source.

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
A character-encoding method based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes display text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that work with text.

ASP (Active Server Pages)
Microsoft based server side scripting language for rendering database driven web pages. Also known as ‘ASP Classic’.

ASP.net
Web application framework by Microsoft allowing dynamic display of Web pages usually built around databases. The successor to the previous ASP scripting language.

Autoresponder
A program that automatically responds to emails that are sent to it. Generally used for e-mail marketing and customer contact forms.

Awstats
An open source Web analytics program that is usually included with a linux based Web hosting package that allows users to view and analyze web traffic patterns.

Backup
General term referring to the ‘backup’ or duplication of files on a Web server to allow users to store a copy locally in case the server crashes.

ColdFusion
Server based scripting language allowing the deployment of dynamic database driven applications. Uses a unique tag based language known as ‘CFML’, which resembles HTML in syntax allowing for a faster learning curve.

Cookie
Small piece of text stored on a user’s computer by a Web browser. A cookie consists of one or more name-value pairs containing bits such as user preferences, shopping cart items, the server-based session information, or other data used by sites.

CPanel
The Web hosting control panel that is included with most Linux based Web hosting packages. Allows users to manage a Web site and do many administrative tasks from a Web interface.

CGI (Common Gateway Interface)
Standard protocol for interfacing external application software with an information server, commonly a web server. CGI is the process by which scripts are run.

CGI-BIN
The specific directory that allows CGI programs to run and usually needs to be setup by someone with administrator rights to the server.

CHMOD
A command that can change file system modes of files and directories. CHMOD is most commonly done via command line with a telnet client or through an FTP client.

Cron
Cron is a time-based job scheduler used in Linux hosting applications. ‘Cron’ is short for ‘chronograph’. Cron is driven by a crontab, a configuration file that specifies shell commands to run periodically on a given schedule known as ‘cronjobs’.

Dedicated Hosting
A dedicated host is a solution where a client leases the entire server allowing for better performance and total control of the server.

Dedicated IP
A dedicated IP (Internet Protocol) is a unique Internet address dedicated exclusively to a single hosting account providing various benefits for the user.

Disk Space
The physical amount of space on a hard drive where files are stored. Disk space limitations are usually imposed as part of the Web hosting package.

DNS (Domain Name Server)
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource participating in the Internet. It associates different information with domain names assigned to each of the participants.

Domain Name

A domain name is an identification tag or label to define a realm of administrative authority, or control on the Internet, based on the Domain Name System (DNS). Domain names commonly have extensions such as .com, .net, or .org.

E-mail
Abbreviated term for ‘electronic mail’. E-mail is a way to exchange electronic messages between computers.

Fantastico
An application that is included with Linux based hosting that automatically installs and removes various scripts from a predefined library for Web development including the databases that are needed to run the software.

Firewall
Part of a computer system or network that is used to restrict unauthorized access while permitting authorized requests.

Forum Software
A script or application that is used to run a message board or community where people can start threads and reply to others based around specific topics.

Forwarder
A program that allows an email message that is delivered to one email address to be automatically forwarded on to another email address.

Free hosting
Web hosting that is free for the user to use and has lowered performance, and reliability. It usually means that advertising must be displayed in the form of a banner or text link and there are many limitations on space and resources.

Front Page
Web site administration and editor tool from Microsoft that has been discontinued. Web sites that run frontpage usually must have frontpage extensions installed on the server to run properly.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
A network protocol that is used to transfer and administer files across the internet. An FTP client is usually used, which is a program with a graphical interface.

GB (Gigabyte)
A unit of measurement for digital storage. When referring to RAM sizes it traditionally has a binary interpretation of 1024 megabytes. When referring to disk storage capacities it usually means 1000 megabytes.

Horde
Web based e-mail client usually included with a Linux Web hosting provider.

Htaccess
.htaccess (hypertext access) is the default name of a directory-level configuration file that overrides a global web server configuration and applies it to the entire directory and everything below it.

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)?

A language that marks up text to indicate to a Web browser how the text is to be formatted and displayed, as well as to enable links and other features.

IIS (Internet Information Services)
A set of internet based services created by Microsoft that includes a Web server and other features.

IP Address

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical identification and logical address that is assigned to devices participating in a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses can be manually or automatically assigned depending on the network setup.

ISP (Internet Service Provider)
Provides internet and related services for users that want to connect to the internet usually in the form of a dial-up, DSL, cable modem, or wireless connection.

JavaScript
JavaScript is a scripting language used to enable programming for objects within other applications. Generally used in the form of client-side JavaScript for the development of dynamic websites and considered easier than Java for casual users.

KB (Kilobyte)
A unit of measurement equal to 1000 bytes when referring to file size or storage capacity and 1024 bytes when talking about memory.

Linux
Linux is a Unix-like operating system based on the Linux kernel and is the most common server OS for Web hosting providers, providing an open source platform and excellent performance and stability.

Managed hosting
A type of Web hosting where the provider helps to manage the server usually in the form of extra support. The two most common types of managed hosting are fully managed and self managed.

MB (Megabyte)
A unit for digital measurement that is equal to 1000 kilobytes for file size and storage and 1024 kilobytes when referring to memory.

Merchant Account
A special account setup to allow businesses to accept credit card payments.

MySQL
An open source software solution that runs as a server and provides multiuser access to a number of databases. Administration can be done via a Web interface such as Myphpadmin.

Parked Domain
A parked domain is a domain that usually does not have a Web site associated with it, and is either used as a placeholder for future development, or as a monetization method.

Perl
A unix scripting language used to create programs for a variety of applications that require database and CGI access.

PHP
An open source and very popular scripting language designed for producing dynamic web pages and has command line capability and can be used in standalone graphical applications.

RAID (Redundant array of inexpensive/independent disks)
A technique of arranging multiple storage devices into arrays for redundancy.

Registrar
A company authorized to register Internet domain names for users.

Reseller Hosting
A type of Web hosting solution that allows users to sign up with a main control panel and configure different accounts to allow for ‘reselling’ for web design or hosting services.

Script
A piece of software or program that runs on a Web server. Examples include forum, blog, and directory software.

Shared Hosting
A Shared or Virtual Web host provider where many Web sites reside on the same server and resources are shared.

Site Builder
Software that allows quick creation of a full Web site that is generally managed from a Web interface.

Shopping Cart Software
Software used in ecommerce to assist people in completing a purchase, usually storing the items they have selected and assisting with checkout and payment processing.

SSI (Server Side Include)
Used to include the contents of one file into another one dynamically when the former is served by a web server.

SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
SSL encrypts the segments of network connections at the Transport Layer end-to-end providing a secure connection for Web browsing, email, instant messaging and other applications.

Storage Space
The amount of disk space or storage area that is allotted for a Web hosting plan.

Subdomain
A domain that is setup under an existing domain and is listed or identified as the prefix. Subdomain.domain.com would be an example.

Telnet
Telnet provides access to a command-line interface on a remote host via a virtual terminal connection.

Uptime
Most web hosting providers provide an ‘uptime’ guarantee usually as a percentage referring to the total uptime that a server will experience.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
In basic terms a URL is the same thing as a Web address used to identify a site on the Web. Example: www.site.com.

VPS (Virtual Private Server)

Also referred to as a Virtual Dedicated Server, a VPS is a way to partition a physical server into multiple computers giving the appearance that each partition is running its own machine.

WHM (Web Host Manager)
A Web based tool used by server administrators and resellers to manage Linux based hosting accounts on a web server. WHM is accessible by a root admin, and is also commonly used and granted access for reseller based Web developers.

Webalizer
Common web analytic software included on most Linux based hosting solutions.

Webmail
Web based email client that includes an easy to use interface and administrative capabilities.

WHOIS
Usually is used as a query which is widely used for getting information on databases in order to determine the registrant of Internet resources, such as a domain name, or an IP address.