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Web Hosting Glossary. We explain various and popular web hosting related terms. |
| ActiveX:
ActiveX is a proprietary
addon to Javascript provided by Microsoft in the various versions of
Internet Explorer. Its purpose is to allow those companies using IE for
their intranet to allow Javascript to access information from the
computer itself. Anonymous FTP: Anonymous File Transfer Protocol. Allows the public to log into an FTP server with a common login, avoiding the need to assign passwords to anyone who wants to download files from your Web site. This is unnecessary unless you plan on providing downloadable files to the public. Apache: Apache web server is a very popular, open source, public-domain Web server. It is the most widely used Web server on the Internet. Originally designed for UNIX servers, it can now also run under Windows and other platforms. The Apache Web server provides a range of features including CGI, SSL, and virtual domains. The availability of the source code makes it possible for anyone to adapt the server for specific needs. Applet: An applet is an embedded program on a web site. Applets are usually written in the coding language called Java. They are normally used for creating a virtual object that may move or interact with the web site. An applet is like a small piece of executable code that needs a full application to run it. ASCII: This is the de facto world-wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. ASP: Active Server Pages. A commonly used Microsoft scripting language that enables the use of online databases. Auto responder: An email address that is set up to automatically reply to the sender with a previously prepared response. Bandwidth (Data Transfer): The amount of data that you are allowed to transfer (usually monthly). Each time a visitor views a page, the size of the page is added to the monthly bandwidth. Data = images, text, audio files, video files and everything else that a server transfers to a user's web browser. Approximately 40,000 page views = 1 GB of data transfer. Web sites that get a lot of visitors (and page views) need larger amounts of data transfer (or bandwidth). Browser: Client software that is used to look at various kinds of Internet resources, for example Microsoft's Internet Explorer, etc. C+/++: C+ and C++ are programming languages. Some hosting companies provide access to C+ and C++ class libraries if your web site contains these types of program modules. Once your web site has been constructed, you will know whether access to C+ or C++ will be required. CGI: Common Gateway Interface. A program that translates data from a web server and then displays that data on a web page or in an email. CGI scripting can add numerous interactive elements to a Web site. CGI-BIN: A directory on a server where CGI programs are stored. CGI scripting can add numerous interactive elements to a Web site. Cookie: A message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file called cookie.txt. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customized Web pages for them. Control Panel: An online interface often used to facilitate Web site management and editing. Control panels often allow hosting customers to perform basic functions (make changes, check data, etc.) without contacting customer service. Database: A collection organized records of information that can facilitate searching, sorting, and recombination of data. Data Transfer (Bandwidth): The amount of data that you are allowed to transfer (usually monthly). Data = images, text, audio files, video files and everything else that a server transfers to a user's web browser. Approximately 40,000 page views = 1 GB of data transfer. Web sites that get a lot of visitors (and page views) need larger amounts of data transfer (or bandwidth). Also, graphics-heavy sites will need more data transfer than more basic sites. Dedicated Servers (Dedicated Hosting): The opposite of Shared Web hosting. Servers that are owned by a Web hosting company but rented out and used by a single customer. Web sites in need of a lot of disk space and/or data transfer and/or Web sites that have very specific software needs may opt to rent a dedicated server. Shared Web hosting is usually sufficient for most small and medium sized businesses. Disk Space (Storage Space): The storage capacity for images, HTML files, audio files, video files, graphics, etc. A Web site planning to have a large amount of pages and/or planning to use a lot of images (or other large files) will need a greater amount of disk space. Domain Name: Domain name is an easy-to-remember address that can be translated by DNS into server's IP address. Domain names are hierarchical. Domain's suffix indicates which TLD (top level domain) it belongs to, for example .com, .gov, .org, .net, etc. Domain Name Registration: Often a hosting company will offer to register your domain name at the time you sign up for a hosting plan. This normally incurs an additional charge but may be cheaper and more convenient than using a separate domain name registration service. We recommend that you go ahead and register your domain name as soon as possible, especially if you think it will take some time to develop the site itself. E-Commerce: Electronic Commerce. The buying/selling (or exchange) of goods and services through the Internet. Email Pop Account: POP (Post Office Protocol) is an actual e-mail account on your web host's e-mail server. Think of each POP account as a unique email address (contact@best-top-web-hosting.com, etc.) Before you choose a specific hosting plan, you should know exactly how many email accounts are required to meet your specific needs. Firewall: Software and/or hardware combination that protects a computer or network from unauthorized access. FrontPage: Microsoft FrontPage is an HTML editor often used to create and maintain Web sites. FrontPage Extensions: A set of programs and scripts that allow specific features of a Web site created with FrontPage to perform correctly. FTP: File Transfer Protocol. The most common method for uploading files to servers. FTP allows files to be uploaded from local machines to servers, where the files can be GB: Gigabyte. 1024 Megabytes. IMAP: Internet Message Access Protocol. A method allowing an email program to access remote messages stored on a mail server. IP Address: Internet Protocol Address. A unique number identifying all devices connected to the Internet. Javascript: A scripting language which enables web designers to add dynamic, interactive elements to a web site. KB: Kilobyte. 1024 bytes. Linux: A UNIX-like operating system used by Web servers. Managed Hosting: A dedicated server complemented with technical support and maintenance services. This is a step up from standard dedicated Web hosting, where customers are responsible for all administrative and maintenance duties. MB: Megabyte. A million bytes. A thousand kilobytes. Mbps: Megabits (Mb) per second, 1Mb = 1,048,576 bytes. MHz: MegaHertz = 1.000.000 Hertz. MS SQL: Microsoft SQL Server. A relational database management system. Windows hosting plans often include MS SQL databases. MySQL: A popular open-source relational database. UNIX hosting plans often include MySQL databases. Name Servers: A computer that performs the mapping of easily remembered domain names to IP addresses. Sometimes referred to as a host server. Payment Gateway: Enables the authorization, processing and managing of online transactions. Perl: Perl is an interpreted language optimized for scanning arbitrary text files, extracting information from those text files, and printing reports based on that information. It's also a good language for many system management tasks. PHP: A scripting language. PHP commands are embedded within the HTML of a Web page and is useful in the arena of dynamically generated pages. PHP scripting can add numerous interactive elements to a Web site. Plug-in: A piece of software that adds features to a larger piece of software. Common examples are plug-ins for the Netscape browser and web server. POP: Post Office Protocol. A protocol used to retrieve e-mail from a mail server. POP3 Email Account: POP3 email allows all emails addressed to your domain to go to one place. If a host allows multiple POP3 email boxes, you can have multiple (separate) email addresses. Reseller: Resellers are usually smaller companies that still try to build their customers base. They don't own the server with user accounts but can perform most administrative functions. Root Server: A machine that has the software and data needed to locate name servers that contain authoritative data for the top-level domains. Server: A computer or device on a network used to store files and maintain network resources. This computer/device handles requests for Web pages. Setup Fee: Initial fee charged by a host to create your hosting account. Shared Web Hosting: The opposite of Dedicated Web hosting. Multiple sites hosted on a single server. Multiple Web sites share the system resources of a single server, with each single Web site being allotted specific amounts of resources. Shared Web hosting is the most common (and cheapest) hosting option. SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. A protocol for sending email. SQL: Structured Query Language. A database query and programming language used for accessing, updating, and managing data in a relational database system. SSI: Server Side Incudes. Often used by Web developers in order to facilitate in updating content on Web sites. An SSI is a variable value that a web server can dynamically add to an otherwise static Web page. SSI-enabled Web pages will often be found with .shtml extensions. SSH: Secure Shell, it is a standard for encrypted terminal Internet connections. SSH programs provide strong authentication and encrypted communications, replacing less secure access methods like telnet. SSL: Secure Sockets Layer. Allows encrypted, authenticated communications over the Web. SSL provides security in online commerce. URL's starting with "https://" indicate the utilization of SSL. Static (Dedicated) IP Address: A unique and unchanging IP address. The opposite of dynamic IP addressing, in which a Web site's IP address is different with each connection to the server. With dynamic IP addressing, several domains can use 1 IP address. With static IP addressing, your Web site gets an unchanging IP address that is not shared with other sites and can be called up in place of your usual www.domain.com. Storage Space (Disk Space): The storage capacity for images, HTML files, audio files, video files, graphics, etc. A Web site planning to have a large amount of pages and/or planning to use a lot of images (or other large files) will need a greater amount of storage space. Subdomain: A subdomain is a division of a Web site, a section set apart with a different sub-domain name. For example, subdomains of Web site "domain.com" could be "contact.domain.com," etc. Uptime: How often a Web site is accessible to users on the Internet (often given in a percentage). Unique IP Address: In many hosting plans, you share an IP address and you will be able to view your site through your domain name only. Obtaining a unique IP address (see IP Address) provides a one-to-one relationship between your domain name (www.yourdomain.com) and an IP address. UNIX: The most commonly used operating system among Web servers. Unix is a text-based, multitasking operating system that is designed to be used by many people at the same time. Virtual Private Servers: Shared hosting servers in which each hosting space is alloted its own amount of dedicated resources. A step above shared Web hosting but a step below dedicated Web hosting. Virtual Web Hosting: Also known as shared Web hosting. Multiple sites hosted on a single server. Web Statistics: Reports on visitors to your Web site. Statistics range from basic (how many visitors), to advanced (referring URL, search phrase, etc.). Whois: Most registries maintain a database of domain names and their associated contact information. Users can query these databases through a program called Whois. Windows Hosting: Hosting on a web server that uses Microsoft Windows server software as it's operating platform. Windows hosting plans are useful in the arena of dynamic content generation and database functionality. Windows is a graphic-based, multitasking operating system. XML: Extensible Markup Language. A meta-language, abbreviated version of SGML, used to specify other document types used on the Web. ZIP: A popular compression utility. How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Provider How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Provider, reliable web host companies... Web Hosting Glossary Web Hosting Glossary. We explain various and popular web hosting related terms... Best Top Web Hosting (http://www.best-top-web-hosting.com) offers cheap web hosting solutions for all types of web hosting needs.Compare top web hosting providers based on web space, bandwidth, server features and find the best web hosting company for your Business, Personal, Blog, Forum website and more. |
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