Web Hosting Terminology

ASP Active Server Pages. ASP is Microsoft's server-side scripting technology. An Active Server Page has an .asp extension and it mixes HTML and scripting code that can be written in VBScript or JScript. ASP is distributed with Microsoft's IIS web server, so most host using IIS will also offer ASP for dynamic web programming. ASP.NET is the next version of ASP. Other popular server-side scripting languages are Perl, PHP, ColdFusion, TCL, Python, and JSP. ActiveX A set of properties that define how applications are to share information with each other. These properties are known as controls.

Apache An open-source program often used because of its outstanding performance, features and because it is free.

Application Service Provider A third party that manages software applications for servers and networks.

Bandwidth Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred over the network in a fixed amount of time. On the Net, it is usually expressed in bits per second (bps) or in higher units like Mbps (millions of bits per second). 28.8 modem can deliver 28,800 bps, a T1 line is about 1.5 Mbps. CGI Short for Common Gateway Interface, a small script that processes data taken from the user (such as from a form application).

Cgi-bin A directory on a server where CGI scripts are stored.

Dedicated Server Similar to co-location, except that you lease or rent hardware from a Web host. The main advantage over co-location is easier upgrade and usually better support. Getting a dedicated server or co-locating is necessary for sites that outgrow shared servers because they use a lot of bandwidth and resources or they require total control over software environment.

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, or .jp. Recently ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) added several new TLDs, like .biz, .pro., and .museum.

Firewall Firewall refers to either software-only or separate software and hardware combination that serves to protect an internal network or a computer from attacks and unauthorized access by sitting between the Internet and the internal network. .

Flash A popular piece of animation software developed by Macromedia. Flash is widely used on the Web because it requires little bandwidth, therefore making it friendly to users with low or high-speed connections.

FrontPage A popular site design and management tool developed by Microsoft.

FTP File Transfer Protocol. The Internet protocol defining how to download and upload files between a client and an FTP server.

HTML Short for Hyper Text Markup Language, the language by which Web servers and client browsers communicate.

HTTP Stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, the protocol by which HTML files move across the Internet.

IP (Internet Protocol) is the main protocol used on the Internet.

Load Balancing Distributing data across a network of servers in order balance the workload of each server.

Managed hosting A dedicated server that is managed and maintained by the web host.

Mirror sites A mirror site is an exact copy of another FTP or Web site. These are used to offset/spread traffic load on busy Web sites.

Name server A server responsible for translating domain names and IP addresses.

NOC Network Operations Center. The NOC is usually where most administration, technical support and physical server storage takes place.

Domain Parking All domain names are stored on servers once they are purchased. Most domain registration services will therefore temporarily place a newly purchased name on their servers until a hosting plan is purchased or the owner points the DNS to a different site.

Propagation The process where name servers throughout the Internet add new domains and remove expired ones from their records.

RAID Short for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, a method of data protection/backup.

Reseller Resellers are usually smaller companies that still try to build their customers base. They don't own the server hardware and usually have limited administrative capabilities.

Scalability The ability of a piece of software or hardware to expand/grow as if necessary.

Shared hosting Allocating small pieces of a server��s storage, bandwidth and applications, each allocation is the shared hosting plan.

Shopping cart Shopping cart software lets users browse for and purchase products online.

SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. Very popular protocol used to transfer email messages across the Internet mail servers.

SQL Standard Query Language. A standard protocol used to request information from databases.

SSL Secure Sockets Layer. A protocol developed by Netscape to handle and protect confidential/sensitive information required for e-commerce transactions (like credit card numbers). SSL address usually begin with 'https'.

Subdomain Subdomain is a way to divide your site into sections with short and easy to remember names.  Other use of subdomains might be to let somebody else use your account.

T1 Dedicated telecommunications line providing 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth. Consists of 24 individual channels 64 Kbps each, that can be configured for voice or data transmission. T1 lines can be leased by businesses that required a dedicated Net connection of with higher reliability than a DSL and faster than an ISDN line but are still quite expensive.

Tape back-up A way to back up Web sites. Contents of a site are periodically stored that looks similar to a cassette. Some cassettes can store several gigabytes.

Telnet Allows remote users and Web servers to communicate.

TCP Transmission Control Protocol. TCP allows two hosts to connect and exchange data, and ensures that "data packets" are delivered exactly as sent.

TLD Shot for Top Level Domain, the suffix for major domain names like .com, .net and .org.

Unix A family of multi-user operating systems, first developed by AT&T Bell Laboratories in the 1970s and then licensed to many universities. A basis for Linux, a very popular operating system among web hosts.

Virtual host A shared hosting solution, the most basic of hosting types. Numerous Web sites are shared on one server.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) A virtual private server provides the features of a dedicated server on a machine that is shared by other Web hosting customers. Customers therefore get hosting services that are similar to that of dedicated Web hosting without sacrificing privacy or performance.

WHOIS A central database which tracks all domain name/IP registrations.

Windows NT/2000 A graphic-based, multitasking Operating Systems developed by Microsoft. This OS can be used for personal computers/workstations, or can serve as an OS for a Web site/network. -

XML Extensible Markup Language. XML is a language that allows developers to create their own markup tags.