Terms And Definitions
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Add-domain
Add-domain is an additional domain which can be create from the main domain control panel without having a separate hosting account. The functionalities like hosting a website, creating email addresses, forwarders etc. can be performed on the addon domain just like your main domain.
Apache web server
The Apache web server delivers the web content to the users generally through their web browsers. Apache is a free and open source web server and it is maintained by an open community of Apache developers. Apache is feature-rich and a stable web server that is widely used by web hosting service providers.
Auto responder
As its name implies, an auto responder automatically sends an e-mail response to the message sender. One of the most common and well-known examples of an auto responder is the “Out of Office” message reply. Similarly, you could configure your web site to automatically respond to e-mails sent to a particular address, such as [email protected].
B
Bandwidth (or, data transfer)
Bandwidth is the measure of the data that can be transferred at a given point of time. It is usually expressed by the amount of data transferred in a second, such as kilobits per second or gigabits per second. Data transfer of your website occurs when visitors come to your website and are involved in actions like browsing, file downloading, file uploading etc.
Browser
A browser (or “web browser”) is a client application that parses HTML from a web server and displays it as a human-readable page. Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Apple Safari are all commonly used web browsers.
Backup
A backup is a copy of files or data. In the event of data loss or corruption, you can use a backup to restore data.
Blog
A blog is a website that is constantly updated by an individual or a group of people / bloggers. One or more authors can publish articles, images, videos and other content in a blog.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate of the website determines the volume of visitors to your website who leave your website in a short span of time or after viewing just one page on the website. A high bounce rate means that people are not finding what they are looking for on your website and they are not interested in browsing your website. A high bounce rate is an alarming sign for the website to make improvements for holding the visitor attention.
C
Catch-All Email
Catch-All is a mailbox on the domain that catches all the emails that are addressed to the domain. The catch-all mailbox catches the emails that do not exist in the mail server. If you have configured the catch-all address, then you won’t lose the emails due to misspelling.
Cloud hosting
Cloud hosting is a type of hosting that stores data virtually in the cloud where it is accessible to the owner anywhere, rather than at physical data centers. Cloud hosting has the ability to scale the resources up or down in real time depending on the requirements of your website / application. Cloud servers are perfect for meeting the requirements of extensive software development and business production requirements along with ensuring affordability.
Control Panel
The control panel is provided by the web hosting companies to manage your web hosting account and your website. A control panel is a web based interface that enables the customers to manage their hosting services through a single interface. A control panel allows you to add email addresses, park domains, install applications, upload files, manage databases etc.
Country Code TLD
Country code TLD signifies country code top level domain. This is the two letter code that identifies the websites and content specific to a country. For instance for India the country code TLD is ".in" for USA, the country code TLD is ".us" and for United Kingdom, the country code TLD is ".uk".
CMS
CMS stands for Content Management System. A content management system is a system that runs in the backend and manages the content. You can easily post content to your website through a CMS and make it look appealing to your website visitors. You can also add a new theme to your website through a CMS and you can keep adding new content at any time. Some popular examples of CMSs include WordPress, Joomla, Drupal among others.
cPanel
cPanel is a control panel that is offered with the Linux based web hosting services. This control panel is user friendly and it provides with a graphical interface and automation tools for simplifying website management.
cPanel Hosting
cPanel hosting is the web hosting service that works with the cPanel control panel. cPanel is provided for the Linux web hosting services. cPanel is a user-friendly control panel and it facilitates effective website management. With cPanel, you can easily manage the website files, databases, create email accounts, manage domains and sub-domains and do much more.
CPU
CPU stands for Central Processing Unit. It is the central processor of the computer where all the calculations are done.
D
Database
A database is a system of storing information. Various types of data is organized and stored in a database and it can be easily accessed, managed and updated. In a database the data is stored in columns, rows and tables thus making it easy to find the relevant information.
Datacenter
A datacenter is a facility that houses the web hosting servers. It is a physical infrastructure that is used for housing computers, servers, networking systems and other components for the company’s IT infrastructure. The web hosting datacenters are based in several locations and you can choose to house your servers in the location near you.
DDOS Attack
DDOS attack stands for Denial Of Service Attack. In this attack various compromised systems that are infected with a Trojan are used for targeting a single system thus causing a denial of service attack. This is a cyber attack that aims at making a computer or network resources unavailable.
Dedicated server
A dedicated server is a separate physical server that hosts a single account. A dedicated server gives you complete control over the operating system, resource usage, and more. Because the server only hosts one dedicated account (as opposed to a shared hosting server, which hosts many accounts), web site performance is usually significantly faster. Dedicated servers are intended for customers who need a server with high availability and performance.
Dedicated IP
Dedicated IP is the IP that is exclusively allotted to a website. It is a unique IP that is devoted to a single hosting account. A dedicated IP address is required if you wish to install an SSL certificate on your website or you can also use it for email service.
Disk Space
Disk space is the amount of storage space that is available in your hosting plan. You will need sufficient disk space to store the website html pages, databases, files, emails, images etc.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is a method for verifying that an incoming e-mail message is actually from the stated sender, and that the message has not been altered during transit. When DKIM is enabled, the sender digitally signs a message using a private key. The recipient uses DNS to retrieve the sender's public key and verifies the message's signature. If the signature is invalid, then the message is assumed to be forged and therefore spam. DKIM is frequently used in conjunction with SPF.
Domain name
A domain name is a unique, human-readable identifier for a site, such as example.com or mycompany.com. The domain name actually represents a numerical string (the IP address) that instructs a client where to access the actual server. You can register your desired domain name and your website will be known by that domain name.
Domain aliases
This is a domain name that point to some other domain. Through domain aliases, users can access the same website with many different web addresses. Many organizations create domain aliases by registering many similar domain name that resemble with their main domain name and point them to the same website. For example, you can create www.example.net and www.example.org and show the same content which was on www.example.com
Domain Parking
Domain parking is the process of registration of the domain name, this domain is not associated with any services like emails or website. At times, domain parking is done in order to reserve the domain for future use.
Domain Privacy
- Domain privacy is a security service provided by various domain name registrars. If you own a domain, you can purchase domain privacy from the domain registrar. When you purchase the domain privacy option, the domain registrar will replace your information in the WHOIS records with other information and a forwarding service in order to maintain your privacy.
Domain Registrar
Domain registrar is the entity that registers your domain name. When you purchase a domain name, you will have to follow the process of registering your domain name in order to link it with your IP address. The main domain registrar is the entity that has the access to register domain names along with your desired domain name extensions like .com, .co.in, .net etc.
DNS (Domain Name System)
DNS stands for Domain Name Server. This process translates the internet domain names and host names to IP address. DNS is equivalent to the internet’s phone book. The DNS maintains a database of domain names and translates them into Internet Protocol (IP) address. The DNS process is necessary because it is easy for people to remember the domain names but the computers and machines remember the domain names as IP addresses.
Drupal
Drupal is a free and open source content management system based on PHP. It needs to be customized and then you can publish content to your website along with media files. Drupal is easy to use and it can be used by individuals or groups. Drupal incorporates a content management platform along with a development framework.
E
Ecommerce Hosting
Ecommerce hosting is the hosting platform for running an online store. Ecommerce hosting enables you to set up your online store within a short span of time. It includes optimized web servers for managing the online store and ecommerce installation and migration.
Email Hosting
Email hosting is the process of creating secure business email IDs for your organization. Email hosting is backed by a hosting platform that manages email servers. In simple words if you own a domain name and you want your email address to be with that domain name, then you have to sign up for an email hosting service.
Email Auto Responder
The auto responder sends automated email responses through a specific email address. You can create the draft for the auto response emails before setting them up. The auto responder emails are generally used in order to notify people if you are on a vacation or in for any situation when you are unable to reply to the emails.
Error Pages
An error page is a warning page to let your website visitors know that there is an error on the web page that they are trying to access. The error pages are also displayed when there is a server related error. The error pages include 500 internal server error (usually displayed when a server or database is down) or a 404 page not found error (displayed when the requested web page does not exist).
F
File Manager
- cPanel organizes all the files on your hosting account into folders. The File Manager interface is use to manage and edit files.
File Permission
File permissions are the access levels set for certain users or groups. File permissions might include complete access to a file, access to file editing or read-only permission etc.
Forum
A forum is an online community or an online bulletin board. You can usually add a forum to your website through your control panel and you can customize it according to your requirements.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a service for transferring files over the internet. By using an FTP client application such as FileZilla, you can upload (send) and download (receive) files from a remote server.
G
Green Hosting
Green hosting is an Eco-friendly hosting service that incorporates the green technologies for providing hosting services. Green hosting comprises of environment friendly materials and it works towards reducing emissions and optimizes the use of resources.
Google Analytics
: Google analytics is a web analytics platform offered by Google. It tracks the website traffic and provides necessary reports about website traffic scenario. It is the most widely used web analytics service on the internet. Google analytics services include free and paid services.
Google Webmaster Tool
Google webmaster tool is also known as the Google search console. Google webmaster tool is a free service by Google for the webmasters for checking indexing status of the website links and for optimizing the visibility of the website.
H
.htaccess
- .htaccess stands for hypertext access. .htaccess is a configuration file that works with the Apache based web servers. Through .htaccess one can set parameters for a file like setting permissions, blocking some websites or determine if people can link to your pages. .htaccess can also be used for improving your website’s functionality and improving SEO.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. This is the standard language used for creating website pages. The web browser receives raw HTML from a web server, parses it, and displays a human-readable web page.
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the protocol used to transfer hypermedia (text, images, video, and more) across the internet. It is the basis for the World Wide Web (WWW), an interconnected collection of hypertext documents.
I
ICANN
ICANN stands for Internet Corporation For Assigned Names And Numbers. This organization brings together the unique identification factors assigned for all computers worldwide so that each computer can communicate with the others. This collaboration enables the internet to perform its functions. ICANN also administers the distribution of internet naming resources and it undertakes certain responsibilities related to the DNS management.
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is a protocol for authenticating to and retrieving messages from an e-mail server. With IMAP, you can use a client e-mail application such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird to retrieve and view your e-mail messages.
IP address
An IP address is a unique number (for example, 93.184.216.119) assigned to a device on a network. A domain name is a human-readable label (such as example.com) that points to the actual numeric IP address that computers can understand.
J
JavaScript
JavaScript is a client-side scripting language that enables developers to add dynamic content to a web site. Because it is a client-side technology, it runs in the user's web browser, not on the web server. Most web sites use at least some JavaScript.
Java Applets
- Java Applets are the programs created with the Java programming language and they can be included in the HTML page in the same way as the images are included. If you are using a Java-enabled browser in order to view a web page that includes a Java Applet, the code of that applet is transferred to your system and it is executed by the Java virtual machine.
Joomla
Joomla is an open source content management platform for creating websites or blogs. Joomla is a CMS that connects your website to MySQL, MySQLi or PostgreSQL databases for managing the content.
K
L
Linux
Linux is a free and open source operating system similar in functionality to Unix. It is known for its stability and reliability, and is used in many computers around the world, particularly servers.
Linux Server
A Linux server is a server that is powered by the Linux operating system. Linux is an open source operating system and it is preferred by many webmasters.
Live Chat Support
A live chat support is a customer service feature through which you can chat with the customer service representatives of the web hosting company at specified time or round the clock. You can discuss your website related issues through live chat support.
Load Balancer
A load balancer is a system that distributes the network resources or application traffic across the servers. Load balancers are utilized for increasing the capacity and reliability of the applications. The incoming network traffic is perfectly distributed by the load balancer across a group of backend servers or server pool.
M
Mailing list
Mailing list is the list of email addresses stored together. A mailing list enables you to send an e-mail message to multiple recipients at once. Mailing lists are commonly used to send announcements or to hold online discussions.
Managed hosting
Managed hosting is a web hosting platform where the web hosting company manages the processes like software upgrades, configuration changes, system administration tasks etc. In this type of hosting, the web hosting company provides support and assistance to the clients in terms of their web hosting package. Managed hosting is ideal for the webmasters who are not comfortable managing their web hosting account.
Malware
Malware is a harmful software that aims at damaging or disabling your website, computer or network.
MySQL
MySQL is a popular database system. It is often used in conjunction with PHP to build a wide variety of web applications, from WordPress to MediaWiki. Through MySQL you can store information in an encrypted form and retrieve it whenever required.
MX Record
MX record stands for Mail Exchange Record. This record signifies the mail server that is entitled to receive the email messages for a domain. MX record is stored within the DNS system.
N
O
Office 365
Office 365 is developed by Microsoft and it is a subscription platform that provides access to the Microsoft Office applications along with offering other productivity services over the internet. Office 365 offers productivity software and other related services to the subscribers. With Office 365, users can use the Microsoft Office apps on Windows and MacOS. It also provides Microsoft’s cloud storage space service OneDrive and grants 60 Skype minutes for a month.
On Page Optimization
On page optimization is the practice of optimizing the individual website pages in order to gain a higher search engine ranking, for better search engine visibility and for gaining more targeted and genuine traffic. On page optimization covers both, the website content and the HTML source code of the website pages.
Operating System
Operating System or OS is the platform that supports your website functions. The choice of operating system is based on some specific features. In web hosting one can choose from Linux and Windows operating system for the web hosting package.
osCommerce
osCommerce is an ecommerce and online store management platform. osCommerce can be installed on any type of web server that operates on PHP and MySQL and it is easy to use. osCommerce is open source and free and it is available under General Public License.
P
Perl
Perl stands for Practical Extraction Reporting Language. This is the most popular programming language used by the web developers. Perl is known to have the best text manipulation capacities and it is best suited for web development purposes.
PHP
PHP is a free and open source scripting language that enables you to generate dynamic content by embedding code directly into the HTML of a web page. Most Hosting companies packages include PHP.
phpMyAdmin
phpMyAdmin is an open source platform created in the PHP language that handles the administration of MySQL over the internet. phpMyAdmin can execute various tasks like creating databases, modifying or deleting databases, fields, tables or rows, executing SQL queries and it also manages users and user permissions.
Plesk
Plesk is an efficient control panel that is offered for both Windows and Linux hosting services. Plesk enables you to easily manage your web hosting account including applications, files, emails etc.
POP (Post Office Protocol)
POP stands for Post Office Protocol. This process is used for retrieving the messages from an email server and authenticating them. You can also use a client email application with POP like Thunderbird, Microsoft Outlook etc. in order to view your email messages.
Q
R
RAID
RAID stands for Redundant Array Of Independent Disks. RAID is the process of storing the same data at different places on multiple hard disks. This process safeguards your website data on many locations so that the data can be retrieved in case of failure. It I s important to note that redundancy is not ensured by all the RAID levels.
Raw Log Files
The raw log files are complete and detailed server logs about a particular account. These logs are mostly important for debugging or for processing third party programs or services.
Reseller Hosting
Reseller hosting is the type of hosting where the user (reseller) can resell hosting space to his/her clients. The reseller can provide every client with their own control panel. The reseller purchases the web hosting company’s services and sells them to customers for earning a profit.
Redirects
A redirect allows you to make one domain redirect to another domain, either for a website or a specific web page. For example, create a redirect so that www.example.com automatically redirects users to www.example.net.
Reseller hosting
On a reseller hosting package, the account owner hosts websites for other users. It is an easy way to start a company or provide hosting services for others, because reseller hosting includes all of the benefits of managed hosting.
S
Server
A server is a system where your website resides. A server is usually owned by the web hosting company. The server delivers your website content on the world wide web.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization is the process of optimizing the website pages for getting more traffic through organic search. It is the technique of working on the right keywords for your website and improving the search engine rank of the website.
SFTP
SFTP stands for Secure File Transfer Protocol. This is a network protocol that enables data transfer through a single connection using a secured shell protocol. SFTP is a separate file transfer protocol that is executed with SSH and works over a secure connection.
Sitemap
A sitemap displays the list of all the pages of the website that are accessible to the crawlers and to the visitors.
Sitemap Generation
Sitemap generation is a service that makes sure that all the crawling search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing etc. are informed of your website content along with your website links.
Shared hosting
Shared hosting is a type of hosting where multiple websites are hosted on one server. It is an affordable form of hosting. Every shared hosting customer has a limit over the server resources like disk space, bandwidth etc. according to the shared hosting package.
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
SFTP stands for Secure File Transfer Protocol. This is a network protocol that enables data transfer through a single connection using a secured shell protocol. SFTP is a separate file transfer protocol that is executed with SSH and works over a secure connection.
Softaculous
Softaculous is an auto installer that is used for installing various scripts and applications. Softaculous works with control panels like cPanel, Plesk, Webuzo, DirectAdmin etc. Softaculous is a commercial script library and you will find numerous scripts that can be used for the functioning of your website.
Spam
“Spam” is a common term for unsolicited bulk (junk) e-mail messages. There are various methods and techniques for trying to reduce the amount of spam in user inboxes, but currently none of them is 100% effective at blocking all spam and permitting all legitimate messages.
Spam Filter
Spam filter is an email filter that is used for identifying the spam emails. A spam filter utilizes many advanced and statistical analysis methods on the email headers and the main content of the email in order to spot the spam emails.
SSH
SSH stands for Secure Sockets Shell, this is a protocol that provides the administrators a secure way of accessing a remote computer. It is a secure method of file transfer.
SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) helps prevent spammers from forging messages that impersonate users from another domain. SPF uses DNS records that specify the mail servers and IP addresses on a domain that are authorized to send e-mail messages. SPF is often used in conjunction with DKIM.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. SSL is an encryption that enables people to make secure transactions online. If you own an ecommerce website, you will need an SSL in order to accept payments online in a secure way. If a website is secured with SSL, the website address will start with "HTTPS". Google recommends having an SSL installed on your website and it also helps in improving the search engine ranking of the website.
Server Side Includes
Server Side Includes is also known as SSI, this platform enables the web developers to add HTML comments to the pages that can deliver many benefits to the website. This comprises of header / footer includes or the implementation of a dynamic server side script.
Sub-domain
A subdomain is a subsection of your website that can exist as a new website without a new domain name. Use subdomains to create memorable URLs for different content areas of your site. For example, you can create a subdomain for your blog that is accessible through blog.mydomain.com and https://www.mydomain.com/blog
T
Top-level domain
The top-level domain is the right-most portion of a domain name. For example, in the domain name example.com, .com is the top-level domain. Other examples of top-level domains are .org, .net, .gov, and .edu, and there are many others.
U
Unmanaged hosting
Unmanaged hosting (also sometimes called “semi-managed” hosting) is a type of web hosting where you handle all configuration changes, software upgrades, and other system administration tasks for the server. If you do not feel comfortable administering an entire server, managed hosting is a good choice.
Uptime
Uptime is the amount of time when a server is up and running without any interruptions. You must look for a web hosting service that provides an uptime of at least 99.95%. Uptime of your website means that if your website is up and the visitors can access it and use it perfectly.
V
Vertical Scaling
Through vertical scaling one can increase the capacity of the existing virtual server by adding additional resources. For instance, you can add processing power to a server for making it fast.
Virtual Datacenter
A virtual datacenter is basically a pool of cloud infrastructure resources that are specifically designed for enterprise business requirements. The resources provided in a virtual datacenter incorporate memory, network, connectivity, bandwidth, storage, backup solutions etc.
Virtual Private Server
A virtual private server is a virtual machine that runs on a physical server with other virtual machines. Because the virtual machine functions as an independent computer, you have complete control over the operating system configuration, and you have root access (unless you are using a managed VPS). A virtual private server is less expensive than a dedicated server, and provides more flexibility and functionality than a shared hosting account.
W
Webmail
Webmail enables you to view and send e-mail messages from your web browser. This removes the need to install and configure a dedicated e-mail client application, such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird. It also means you can access your e-mail account from any internet-connected computer that has a web browser.
Website Backup
Website backup is the process of backing up your website data in order to safeguard the data and maintain a copy of the data in case of system failure, cyber attack or any other disaster. Some web hosting companies offer website backup services as a part of the web hosting package.
Website Migration
Website migration is the process of transferring a website from one web hosting company to the other. This move comprises of the migration of all the important website files to the new web host. It is important to schedule website migration at an appropriate time so that your visitors or customers are not affected.
Web Hosting
Web hosting is a platform on which your website is hosted and made live so that it can be viewed and accessed on the world wide web. The website owner can buy the hosting space according to his/her website requirements. Along with the web hosting package, the web hosting company also provides support and customer care services for the smooth functioning of the customer’s websites.
Web Traffic
Web traffic is basically the number of visitors coming to your website, it also signifies the volume of data sent and received by the visitors coming to your website. Web traffic does not comprise of the traffic through bots. Web traffic to a website is determined by the visitors coming to a website and the number of pages they visit.
Windows Server
A Windows server is a server powered by the Windows operating system. Usually, webmasters opt for Windows based hosting if they would like to use certain Windows features or run ASP.NET, MSSQL based apps.
Windows Hosting
The Windows hosting platform is based on the Windows operating system. This hosting service offers Windows specific technologies like ASP, .Net, MSSQL, FrontPage, Visual Basic etc. Windows hosting provides the Plesk control panel for managing the website functions.
WordPress
WordPress is one of the most popularly used free blogging and website building platform and a content management system. WordPress is based on PHP and MySQL. WordPress incorporates a huge number of plugins, extensions and themes to customize the website. You can also run various addons and utilities on WordPress.
X
Y
Z
Zen Cart
Zen cart is a PHP based online store management platform that utilizes the MySQL database and HTML components. Zen Cart supports various languages and currencies for managing the online store effectively.
