A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XYZ
A
A Record – An A record is part of the zone file. It is used to point Internet traffic to an IP address. For example, you can use an “A record” to designate abc.yourdomain.com to send traffic to your web site at IP address 209.15.32.135. You can also designate xyz.yourdomain.com to go to a separate IP address.
ASP (Active Server Pages) – ASP is Microsoft’s server-side scripting technology. An Active Server Page has an .asp extension. ASP mixes HTML and scripting code that can be written in VBScript or Jscript
B
Bandwidth – Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred over your server network in a fixed amount of time. With hosting, it is usually expressed over a monthly period
Browser – Computer program that allows users to view the World Wide Web and displays the content of the webpages. Examples are Firefox, Netscape, and Internet Explorer.
Burstable RAM - Burstable RAM is RAM provided to sites on a VPS during times of high usage or traffic. Burstable RAM is never guaranteed to be available and should not be constantly depended upon.
C
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) – A CSS file contains a set of design styles to be used on multiple website pages. Using an external CSS file allows for easy formatting changes without the need to make changes on every page.
CGI (Common Gateway Interface) – CGI is a standard for interfacing web servers with an executable application. A CGI program can be written in Perl or C/C++ and it is often stored in a special directory like /cgi-bin. CGI is often used to process data from HTML forms.
CNAME (Canonical Name) – CNAME is a record in a DNS database that indicates the true host name of any computer that its aliases are associated with. A computer hosting a Web site must have an IP address in order to be connected to the World Wide Web. The DNS resolves the computer’s domain name to its IP address, but sometimes more than one domain name resolves to the same IP address. This is where the CNAME is useful. A machine can have an unlimited number of CNAME aliases, but a separate CNAME record must be in the database for each alias.
Control Panel - The control panel is part of a graphical user interface which allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls. For example, Microsoft Windows control panel and the Purple Serve control panel.
cPanel - cPanel is a Unix based web hosting control panel that provides a graphical interface and automation tools designed to simplify the process of hosting a web site. cPanel utilizes a 3 tier structure that provides functionality for administrators, resellers, and end-user website owners to control the various aspects of website and server administration through a standard web browser.
D
Dedicated Server - a type of Internet hosting in which the client leases an entire server not shared with anyone. This is more flexible than shared hosting, as organizations have full control over the server(s), including choice of operating system, hardware, etc.
Disk Space - Disk space related to the amount of server disk storage allocated to your account. This space is used to store your HTML files, graphics, audio clips, log files, and all other files that make up your Web site, as well as email messages.
DNS (Domain Name System) – Internet service that directs domains names (see below) into corresponding IP addresses. The DNS database is distributed and replicated among many DNS servers, so when you change your domain’s IP address, the changes take a while to change on all DNS servers.
Domain name – A Domain name is an easy to remember address that can be translated by DNS (see above) into server’s IP address. Domain’s suffix indicates which TLD (Top Level Domain) it belongs to, for example .com, .gov, .org, .net, etc.
DPA (Data Protection Act) – The Data Protection Act gives you the right to know what information is held about you. It sets out rules to make sure that this information is handled properly.
E
E-Commerce - Electronic Commerce. Refers to the general exchange of goods and services via the Internet.
F
Firewall - A firewall is a device or set of devices designed to permit or deny network transmissions based upon a set of rules and is frequently used to protect networks from unauthorized access while permitting legitimate communications to pass.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) – An interface used to download and upload files between your computer and your web hosting area. Example software includes Leech FTP, Cute FTP and Filezilla.
G
Gateway - A system for exchanging information across networks that are incompatible and use different protocols. Basically, a gateway is a combination of hardware and software that connects two different types of networks so that information can be exchanged. The hardware devices (called "bridges") and the computer programs perform the necessary translations.
Guaranteed RAM - Guaranteed RAM is not a limit, but a minimum availability of RAM for your VPS. No matter how much RAM other VPS’s use, this amount is available to you at all times.
H
Host – Refers to a company who provides web hosting services.
I
IP Address (Internet Protocol Address) - A unique number used to identify all of the individual devices connected to the Internet. This number is usually shown in groups of numbers from 0 to 255, separated by periods, for example 150.32.244.117.
J
Java - Java is a network-oriented programming language invented by Sun Microsystems that is specifically designed for writing programs that can be safely downloaded to your computer through the Internet and immediately run without fear of viruses or other harm to your computer or files. Using small Java programs (called "Applets"), Web pages can include functions such as animations.
K
Kernel - The central module of an operating system, it loads first and remains in memory to control memory management, disk management, and process and task management. It's called a kernel because it stays as small as possible while still providing all the essential nutrients required by other applications.
L
LAN (Local Area Network) - A computer network limited to the immediate area, usually the same building or floor of a building.
Load Balancing - a computer networking methodology to distribute workload across multiple computers or a computer cluster, network links, central processing units, disk drives, or other resources, to achieve optimal resource utilization, maximize throughput, minimize response time, and avoid overload.
M
MySQL - One of the most popular database systems.
MX Records – An MX (mail exchange) record is an entry in your DNS file which selects a mail server to handle your domain email. This means that when someone sends an email to you@yourdomain.com the email will be delivered to the mail server specified in the MX record for yourdomain.com.
N
Name Servers - A computer that performs the mapping of easily remembered domain names to IP addresses. Sometimes referred to as a host server.
O
Operating System - The foundation software of a computer system, responsible for controlling and launching the installed applications and computer peripherals. Common operating systems include MS-DOS, Unix, OS/2, Macintosh, and Windows. It is the software that schedules tasks, allocates storage, handles the interface to peripheral hardware, and presents a default interface to the user when no application program is running.
P
Perl - Open source CGI scripting programming language. Perl is one of the most popular web programming languages, due to its powerful text-manipulation facilities.
PHP – PHP is a free, open-source server-side scripting language. PHP code can be embedded in HTML. PHP files usually have extensions like .php.
Plesk - Parallels Plesk Panel allows a server administrator to set up new websites, reseller accounts, e-mail accounts, and DNS entries through a web-based interface. The administrator can create client and site templates, which predetermine resource-allocation parameters for the domains and/or clients.
Propagation - The process of updating the DNS to DNS servers. This process usually concerns those who have just updated/bought/transferred a domain and can take up to 72 hours.
Pending Delete – This is the final stage before the domain is released back on to the domain market, this only occurs after quarantine.
Q
Quarantine -This is the period after the redemption period of a domain name (see below). During this period, the domain is no longer available to the original owner to re-register, but is not yet available to the general public to purchase yet.
R
RAID (redundant array of independent disks) - RAID is a way of storing the same data in different places (thus, redundantly) on multiple hard disks. By placing data on multiple disks, I/O (input/output) operations can overlap in a balanced way, improving performance. Since multiple disks increases the mean time between failures, storing data redundantly also increases fault tolerance.
RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) - Remote Desktop Protocol is a multi-channel protocol that allows a user to connect to a computer running Microsoft Terminal Services. RDP is designed to support many different types of network topologies such as ISDN, POTS, and many LAN protocols such as IPX, NetBIOS, or TCP/IP.
Redemption – The redemption period is a domain registry period that occurs when a domain name is deleted after having expired. Rather than deleting your domain, the existing registry keeps a hold on the domain name. During this redemption period, the original owner of the domain can retrieve the domain from deletion by contacting their registrar.
Registrar - this is who you have bought, or technically registered, your domain with.
Round Robin - Round-robin is one of the simplest scheduling algorithms for processes in an operating system. As the term is generally used, time slices are assigned to each process in equal portions and in circular order, handling all processes without priority.
S
Shared Web Hosting - a web hosting service where many websites reside on one web server connected to the Internet. Each site "sits" on its own partition, or section/place on the server, to keep it separate from other sites.
Spam – Spam emails are sent to a big list unsolicited, usually selling something you have no interest in.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) - SSL encrypts data that should be protected while transferring over the internet, such as credit card numbers, by using https protocol.
T
TLD (Top Level Domain) - This is the domain name extension, such as .com, .org or .gov.
Traffic - The load on a communications device or system. For example, the amount of users on a website.
U
URL (Uniform Resource Locator) – URL is the web address you type in your web browser to reach a website. The domain name you choose makes up your URL along with your TLD.
V
VB Script - The Microsoft Visual Basic programming language, is a fast, portable, lightweight interpreter for use in World Wide Web browsers and other applications that use Microsoft ActiveX Controls, Automation servers, and Java applets.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) - a server that is divided into a small number of VPS that share resources. Each VPS is completely “private” from the other VPS and functions the same as a regular server.
W
Whois – An internet service that allows obtainment of information about domain name owners
XYZ
Zone File - The group of files that reside on the domain host or nameserver. The zone file designates a domain, its subdomains and mail server.
