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Web Hosting is a constantly updated dictionary of web hosting words and hosting related terms. We have put together this hosting resource for the purpose of simplifying complex hosting lingo and jargon into easy to understand hosting concepts. You can browse our hosting dictionary alphabetically or by searching for a hosting related term using the search box above.
Since web hosting is closely related to many other aspects of running and managing a website, you might also come across some terms that are not exclusive to the world of web hosting.
This dictionary is community powered and we encourage you to participate. If you find a word that is not yet defined, please help us by submitting your definition.
The Hostgator Web Hosting Dictionary
The Ultimate Host Gator Web Hosting Terminalog y & Resource Web Hosting is a constantly updated dictionary of web hosting words and hosting related terms. We have put together this hosting resource for the purpose of simplifying complex hosting lingo and jargon into easy to understand hosting concepts. You can browse our hosting dictionary alphabetically or by searching for a hosting related term using the search box above.
Since web hosting is closely related to many other aspects of running and managing a website, you might also come across some terms that are not exclusive to the world of web hosting.
This dictionary is community powered and we encourage you to participate. If you find a word that is not yet defined, please help us by submitting your definition.
Chapter 1. Hostgator Web Hosting Dictionary
In that the "Cheat Sheet" below contains lots of terms and acronyms (and their meanings)
that you may have come across when looking for a webhosting.
AUP - Acceptable Use Policy. A set of rules and regulations that set
out what you, as a client, can and cannot do with your hosting. For
example it may say you cannot run resource intensive scripts which
may use up too much of the server's resources.
An AUP isn't as commonly seen as a Terms Of Service agreement,
however many hosts have a AUP nonetheless and it does contain
some useful information so should always be read too.
Add-On Domain - an add-on domain allows you to host more than
one website through your account (literally by 'adding on' the
domain to your account). Some hosts limit the number of add-on
domains/websites you can use, whilst others give you a large
number (or unlimited) amount.
Apache - Apache is the free and open-source software that is used
by many hosts as the web server. The web server is responsible for
showing the website to your visitor when they visit your website.
AwStats - AwStats is a well-known statistics program that shows
you a lot of useful statistics about your website's traffic patterns and
its visitors.
Bandwidth - Officially, bandwidth is the amount of data (i.e. your
website, any images stored on the website, etc) that can go into
and out of a server (the machine that hosts and stores your
website) - via its internet connection - at any one time.
However since this term refers to data going into and out of the
server, it is also used by many hosts to refer to the total amount of
data per month that your website can transfer in and out. This is
actually the 'data transfer' limit, however its now seen as standard
to call it 'bandwidth'.
CGI - Common Gateway Interface. CGI isn't used as much today,
however it's mainly used in web hosting for applications/software
such as e-mail forms and visitor counters.
Cloud Hosting - cloud hosting is a specialized type of hosting. It
involves having a large number of servers as part of a host's
structure and then a website can use up a varying amount of
resources depending on its traffic.
So, for example, at night a website may be allocated a small
amount of server resources. And then if, at an on-peak time, the
website is very busy, it may have more server resources allocated
to it allowing the website to cope with the traffic rise.
This means that a website can have large variations in traffic
without any major issues (since, for example, many shared hosts
may suspend a website if it has a sudden burst of massive traffic
because this may overload their server)
cPanel - cPanel is the most popular control panel in hosting. It
allows a client to easily manage many aspects of their hosting -
including uploading/editing their website files, viewing traffic stats,
managing any databases and software (set-up via cPanel) that they
may have, and much more.
CPU - Central Processing Unit. This is the 'brains' of a server (and
any computer, for that matter). It does all the calculations and
processes any task it gets given. Even if your website is a small,
basic website the CPU still gets used when, for example, getting the
website files to show the visitor.
Many hosts may set a limit on the amount of CPU you can use for a
sustained period of time (since if you use it up too much, this may
slow down other website's hosted on their server).
Data Transfer - this refers to the amount of data (usually
measured in gigabytes) that your website can transfer in and out (of
the server) in a month.
When a host gives a "bandwidth" limit they usually mean a "data
transfer" limit (based on the proper definitions of these terms),
however nowadays many hosts (and clients) simply refer to data
transfer as bandwidth.
Database - a database is a way of storing data you need in an
organized manner (organized into tables, rows and columns).
MySQL is the most common type of database in shared web
hosting.
Dedicated Server - when a website gets too large for shared
hosting, they may choose to host it on a dedicated server - which is
a server which only hosts one (or only a small number) of websites.
DirectAdmin - DirectAdmin is another control panel which allows a
client to manage their hosting. It's the second most popular control
panel (behind cPanel, which is the industry favourite).
Disk Space - Disk Space is simply the total amount of space you
take up on your host's hard drives. This will include the total size of
your website files, any databases you may have, and 'background'
files like log files and stored e-mails. Nearly all control panels will
allow you to keep track of how much disk space you are using.
Downtime - This is the amount of time (usually measured per
month) when a host's server is down, meaning that any websites
hosted on that server are also down and therefore inaccessible.
Some hosts may give partial refunds for large amounts of
downtime, via a Service Level Agreement (see below).
DNS - Domain Name Server. Can also stand for Domain Name
System or Domain Name Service. This is the part of a server which
receives a request for a website (e.g. example.org) and then
converts this domain into an IP address which can then be used to
display the correct website to the user.
In reality the domain name is a 'mask' for the IP address (which
looks like 204.124.182.101, for example) of the server that the
website is stored on. Of course, though, a domain name is much
easier to remember than a complicated string of numbers; this is
why we have domain names.
Domain Name - A domain name is the name/label which you use
to access a website. It has the form example.org. The bit after the
dot (.) is the top level domain (also known as the domain extension)
- there are a number of extensions, such as .com, .net, .org, .us,
.co.uk, .info and many more.
Chapter 2. Hostgator Web Hosting Dictionary
E-mail Forwarding - e-mail forwarding can be set-up via your
control panel (if offered by your host) and it allows e-mails sent to a
particular e-mail address (which you specify) to be forwarded to
another e-mail address. So, for example, you could choose to have
all e-mails sent to info@yourwebsite.com to be forwarded to your
personal e-mail address.
Fantastico - Fantastico is a service accessible through cPanel. It
allows users to easily install a range of software on their website.
Firewall - A firewall will be installed on your host's end (i.e. you
won't be able to see/configure it) to protect against potential security
issues and concerns.
FTP - Files Transfer Protocol. It is used to upload your website files
(and can also be used to download/backup your files, too). Is
essential if you have a massive website with a lot of files (as it'd
take too long to upload them one-by-one via the control panel). See
the guide later if you haven't used FTP before.
IP Address - The IP address is the string of numbers (separated
by 3 full stops) - which looks like 204.124.182.101, for example.
Once you access a website via it's domain name, the DNS (as
above) converts this request into an IP address and connects to the
server associated with that IP address.
IRC - stands for Internet Relay Chat. It is a form of real-time
internet chat. IRC applications, however, aren't allowed on many
hosts now since they have a potential to be abused (and are
resource heavy). Be sure to check the Terms Of Service and
Acceptable Use Policy of a potential host if you want to run an IRC
application.
Linux - Linux is the general term used to describe the type of
operating systems that many hosts use. CentOS is based off of
Linux, and is the most commonly used platform that host's use to
power their servers. Unlike Windows' products, Linux-based
operating systems are free.
Localhost - localhost simply means "this computer". You may hear
this term when installing software on your website, since it may ask
you for the location of MySQL (see below) when going through the
installation process (and since MySQL is usually on the same
server as your website, you'd enter "localhost" during installation)
Mail Server - the Mail Server is a server (or a service running on
your host's server) which processes all the mail that you send out
(and receive in) through your website's e-mail addresses (if you
have set one up).
MySQL - MySQL is the main database software that most web
hosts install and that many installable scripts online use. It allows
you to set-up a database which your website applications and
software can use to create dynamic websites.
Name Server - when you sign-up with a host, your website's
domain name will need to be changed so that it points to your host's
server. You do this via the domain's name server. There are usually
two name servers which are usually of the form ns1.yourhost.com
and ns2.yourhost.com
Overselling - Briefly, overselling is when a host advertises more
disk space and data transfer than they can actually offer their
customers. See the section below for a more detailed analysis of
overselling.
PHP - stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. It is the most
popular scripting language on the internet nowadays. It is used for
web development, to create dynamic web pages (i.e. web pages
with an "interactive" element to them)
Chapter 3. Hostgator Web Hosting Dictionary
RAID - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. RAID is set-up by
your host (in its servers). It joins together two or more hard-drives in
the server for a variety of benefits. There are different types of
RAID, however the most common types for a host are RAID 1 and
RAID 10 which basically mean that if one hard-drive in the server
fails, no data will be lost because the data is stored on the other
hard-drive(s) too.
Hence it is, in my opinion, essential that your host uses RAID in
their servers. Otherwise, if the server's hard-drive fails, all the data
will be lost and need to be restored from backups (if your host
keeps backups, that is). This process can be lengthy, and without
RAID your websites would be down for many hours if a hard-drive
was to fail.
Reseller - A reseller account is a hosting account that allows you to
set-up new accounts on your host's server. This means that you can
(for example) host your friends' websites, or even start a host of
your own.
Server - The server is the relatively high-powered computer that
stores your account/website. In a shared hosting environment (see
below), there may be hundreds of other websites on the server that
your account/website is on (however any good host will ensure that
this set-up is completely secure and that your website won't be
slowed down by any other website on the server).
Shared Hosting - Shared hosting involves hosting many websites
on one server. Each website/account gets its own disk-space on the
server, and any good host will ensure that your own space on the
server is completely secure and cannot be accessed by anyone
else on the server. Shared hosting is the most commonly used type
of hosting (for small website owners).
SLA - Service Level Agreement. This agreement will set out how
long your website can be "down" (called "downtime" - meaning
when your website cannot be accessed) before a credit/refund is
applicable. Not all hosts offer an SLA.
SQL - Structured Query Language. SQL is the language which is
used to communicate with MySQL (and other) databases.
SSH - Stands for Secure Shell. SSH is used mainly by a host (but
some hosts can give access to it on a limited basis to their
customers) to connect to and manage a server from a remote
location. The average hosting customer would usually not need to
use SSH (and indeed, only a minority of hosts give access to SSH)
SSL - Secure Sockets Layer. This is in use when a web address
starts with "https://" and it means that the connection is encrypted to
give greater security to the client.
Subdomain - A subdomain can be set-up via your hosting control
panel. It allows you to create a domain as part of your actual
domain. So if your domain/website was example.org, you could
create a subdomain as anything.example.org and you could host
another website on this subdomain if you wanted.
TOS - Terms Of Service. This sets out the terms that a client and
host must adhere to as part of the hosting agreement. As discussed
in chapter 2, the TOS is essentially a contract hence it is very
important that you read and agree to it before signing up to a host.
Uptime - Uptime measures how long a website is 'up' (i.e.
accessible) for each month. A good figure for shared hosting is
generally considered to be 99.5% uptime. Note that this amounts to
around 220 minutes downtime per month or 7 minutes per day
(which for some people may be too much downtime).
VPS - A VPS stands for a Virtual Private Server. This gives you your
own space on a server. You have a lot of control over many aspects
of your VPS. Hence VPS accounts are used for larger websites
(which are too large for shared hosting but too small for an entire
server to themselves).
WHM - Web Host Manager. This is the control panel that hosts and
resellers use (on a cPanel-powered system) to control the
accounts/websites on the server and much more. A reseller will also
be able to, for example, set-up their own packages (i.e. which offer
varying amounts of disk-space and bandwidth) and view the details
of websites they currently host.
The 'root' version of WHM (i.e. the full permission version, which
only the host would have access to) has numerous features
allowing many aspects of the server and its configuration/settings to
be managed.
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