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Glosary Web Hosting Glossary

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.

Anonymous FTP

Anonymous File Transfer Protocol allows the public to log into an FTP server with a common login (usually "ftp" or "anonymous" and any password (usually the person's e-mail address is used as the password). Anonymous FTP is beneficial for the distribution of large files to the public, avoiding the need to assign large numbers of login and password combinations for FTP access.

ASP

ASP - Active Server Pages (ASP). ASP files, which provide Web developers with an easier, faster, and more powerful way to build Web applications, are regular HTML pages with embedded scripts. These scripts can be written in any language and processed by the server when the file's URL is requested.

Backbone

A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. The term is relative, as a backbone in a small network will likely be much smaller than many non-backbone lines in a large network.

Bandwidth

The difference between the highest and lowest frequencies available for network signals. The term is also used to describe the rated throughput capacity of a given network medium or protocol. In short, bandwidth is a loose term used to describe the throughput capacity (measured in Kilobits or Megabits per second) of a specific circuit.

Certificate Authority

An issuer of Security Certificates used in SSL connections.

CGI

(Common Gateway Interface) -- A set of rules that describe how a Web Server communicates with another piece of software on the same machine, and how the other piece of software (the 'CGI program') talks to the web server. Any piece of software can be a CGI program if it handles input and output according to the CGI standard.

Usually a CGI program is a small program that takes data from a web server and does something with it, like putting the content of a form into an e-mail message, or turning the data into a database query.

CGI "scripts" are just scripts which use CGI. CGI is often confused with Perl, which is a programming language, while CGI is an interface to the server from a particular program. Perl is an application of CGI, as well as MIVA, Python, PHP3, and other scripting languages.

Cgi-bin

The most common name of a directory on a web server in which CGI programs are stored. The 'bin' part of 'cgi-bin' is a shorthand version of 'binary', because once upon a time, most programs were referred to as 'binaries'. In real life, most programs found in cgi-bin directories are text files -- scripts that are executed by binaries located elsewhere on the server. While most programs using CGI are stored in this directory, it is not a requirement for using CGI.

Co-Location

Network Operations Centers such as Apexisp.net's offer the opportunity for customers to place their web servers and other network equipment in their NOC which are connected via high speed fiber data lines to the backbone of the Internet. Administration is done remotely so that a customer far away can configure and control their network equipment.

Cold Fusion

Cold Fusion is a scripting language for web designers that want wish to do advanced development and/or database interfacing. Cold Fusion supports MS Access, dBASE, FoxPro, and Paradox databases.

Cookie

The most common meaning of 'Cookie' on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser that the Browser software is expected to save and to send back to the Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server.

Depending on the type of Cookie used, and the Browser's settings, the Browser may accept or not accept the Cookie, and may save the Cookie for either a short time or a long time.

Cookies might contain information such as login or registration information, online 'shopping cart' information, user preferences, etc.

When a Server receives a request from a Browser that includes a Cookie, the Server is able to use the information stored in the Cookie. For example, the Server might customize what is sent back to the user, or keep a log of particular user's requests.

Cookies are usually set to expire after a predetermined amount of time and are usually saved in memory until the Browser software is closed down, at which time they may be saved to disk if their 'expire time' has not been reached.

Cookies do not read your hard drive and send your life story to the CIA, but they can be used to gather more information about a user than would be possible without them.

Disk Space

This indicates the amount of disk space that will be available to you on the hosts server to hold your web site files. Normally because HTML files are small, a web site (unless it has extensive graphics or database functionality) will be small, as low as 1 or 2 MB in most cases. When you do a search on FindMyHosting.com and select disk space as a factor in the search you are indicating a minimum level that you want a plan to offer. As an example, the FindMyHosting.com site, not including the database (i.e the web pages and graphics only) is about 3MB.

Use windows explorer to check the total MB of your site while it is still on your development machine. Then perhaps double your sites current size so that you have room to grow. When you check the total MB of your site don't forget to include the total MB of your graphics files.

DNS: Domain Naming System

The DNS is a distributed, replicated that allows name-servers to map easily remembered domain names to an IP number.

Dedicated Server

For those customers that want the advantages of co-location without the hassles of purchasing their own server. See co-location.

Domain Name

The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general. A given machine may have more than one Domain Name but a given Domain Name points to only one machine. For example, the domain names: Apexisp.net, ftp.apexisp.net, whatever.apexisp.net can all refer to the same machine, but each domain name can refer to no more than one machine.

Usually, all of the machines on a given Network will have the same thing as the right-hand portion of their Domain Names in the examples above. It is also possible for a Domain Name to exist but not be connected to an actual machine. This is often done so that a group or business can have an Internet e-mail address without having to establish a real Internet site. In these cases, some real Internet machine must handle the mail on behalf of the listed Domain Name.

Domain Parking

Many hosting companies give you the option to 'park' your domain name without actually having your web site up and running. This is a nice option if you want to acquire a domain name for your web site well ahead of having the web site itself designed and constructed.

E-Commerce

Electronic Commerce. Refers to the general exchange of goods and services via the Internet.

E-mail

(Electronic Mail) -- Messages, usually text, sent from one person to another via computer. E-mail can also be sent automatically to a large number of addresses (Mailing List).

FAQ

(Frequently Asked Questions) -- FAQs are documents that list and answer the most common questions on a particular subject. There are hundreds of FAQs on subjects as diverse as Pet Grooming and Cryptography. FAQs are usually written by people who have tired of answering the same question over and over.

FrontPage

Microsoft® FrontPage® is a site creation and management software tool. One of the most popular website creation software packages the software, both FrontPage® 98 and FrontPage ®2000 is widely supported by the hosting community.

FTP

(File Transfer Protocol) -- A very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a special way to login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files. There are many Internet sites that have established publicly accessible repositories of material that can be obtained using FTP, by logging in using the account name anonymous, thus these sites are called anonymous FTP servers.

Host

Any computer on a network that is a repository for services available to other computers on the network. It is quite common to have one host machine provide several services, such as WWW and USENET.

Hosting

This term can be used to refer to the housing of a web site, email or a domain. See Email hosting and Web Site hosting for more details.

HTML

(Hypertext Markup Language) -- The coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web. HTML looks a lot like old-fashioned typesetting code, where you surround a block of text with codes that indicate how it should appear, additionally, in HTML you can specify that a block of text, or a word, is linked to another file on the Internet. HTML files are meant to be viewed using a World Wide Web Client Program, such as Netscape or Mosaic.

HTTP

(Hypertext Transport Protocol) -- The protocol for moving hypertext files across the Internet. Requires a HTTP client program on one end, and an HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World Wide Web (WWW).

IP Number

(Internet Protocol Number) -- Sometimes called a dotted quad. A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g.165.113.245.2

Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. Most machines also have one or more Domain Names that are easier for people to remember.

MX Record: Mail Exchange

Mail Exchange record is part of the zone file and is used to designate which mail server machine should process email for a specific domain.

Name Servers

A computer that performs the mapping of easily remembered domain names to IP addresses. Sometimes referred to as a host server.

Parking (Domain Name)

Registries require the use of name servers or hosts for every domain registered. Parking is the process by which someone selects a domain name, and "parks" it by registering the domain name under someone's name servers. Parking can be done by anyone, to anyone else who has active name servers. However, parking a domain name alone will result in no service (web hosting, e-mail) for that particular domain name.

Perl (Practical Extraction and Report Language)

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

PHP is another scripting language. Like ASP, it's commands are embedded within the HTML of a web page. The commands are executed on the web server, making it browser independent. The web browser only sees the resulting HTML output of the PHP code.

POP

(Point of Presence, also Post Office Protocol) -- Two commonly used meanings: Point of Presence and Post Office Protocol. A Point of Presence usually means a city or location where a network can be connected to, often with dial up phone lines. So if an Internet company says they will soon have a POP in Belgrade, it means that they will soon have a local phone number in Belgrade and/or a place where leased lines can connect to their network. A second meaning, Post Office Protocol refers to the way e-mail software such as Eudora gets mail from a mail server. When you obtain a SLIP, PPP, or shell account you almost always get a POP account with it, and it is this POP account that you tell your e-mail software to use to get your mail.

Price

The monthly amount that you will have to pay a hosting company to provide the hosting services requested. Paying monthly is normally perfectly acceptable, but discounts may be available by paying quarterly or annually. FindMyHosting.com will always list plans in order of price, lowest to highest. If you enter a price as part of the search then any plans costing more than what you enter will not be found.

Reseller Plans
Many hosting providers allow you to be a reseller of hosting space earning a commission off of each sale. If you intend to be a provider of hosting services, you should investigate this option as you decide where to host your web site. Many hosting companies offer discounts (in addition to revenue opportunities) to companies that wish to remarket their web hosting services.

Root Server

A machine that has the software and data needed to locate name servers that contain authoritative data for the top-level domains.

Setup Fee

Some hosting companies charge a one time setup fee to set up your hosting account. It is worth to also take this into account when looking at the monthly fee. If you select the 'No Setup Fee' checkbox in the search then any plans that involve a setup fee will not be found.

Register (Domain Name)

Since every domain is unique, registries have been set up to assign domains to individuals and organizations. When a domain is registered with the appropriate registry, that domain is assigned and becomes no longer available for anyone else to use. Typically, there are registration and renewal fees (local registry fees) associated with the right to use a domain. However, there are some TLDs that are provided at no charge.

Registrant (Domain Name)

The entity, organization or individual that will be using the domain name.

Registrar (Domain Name)

Some registries don't provide the ability for end users to register domains with them directly. They might require end users to purchase the domain through an internet provider that is acting as the registrar.

Registry (Domain Name)

An organization responsible for assigning domain names for the TLD that they manage. Furthermore, it is their responsibility to update the global DNS tables that all name-servers use to resolve domain names. For example, InterNIC is the registry for .COM, .NET and .ORG domain names.

Renewal (Domain Name)

Most TLDs need to be renewed at some scheduled yearly interval. This is an opportunity for both the registrant and the registry to update their records as well as collect any applicable renewal fees.

Security Certificate

A chunk of information (often stored as a text file) that is used by the SSL protocol to establish a secure connection.

Security Certificates contain information about who it belongs to, who it was issued by, a unique serial number or other unique identification, valid dates, and an encrypted 'fingerprint' that can be used to verify the contents of the certificate.

In order for an SSL connection to be created both sides must have a valid Security Certificate.

Server

A computer, or a software package, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a WWW server, or to the machine on which the software is running, e.g. Our mail server is down today, that's why e-mail isn't getting out. A single server machine could have several different server software packages running on it, thus providing many different servers to clients on the network.

SMTP

(Simple Mail Transport Protocol) -- The main protocol used to send electronic mail on the Internet.

SMTP consists of a set of rules for how a program sending mail and a program receiving mail should interact.

Almost all Internet email is sent and received by clients and servers using SMTP, thus if one wanted to set up an email server on the Internet one would look for email server software that supports SMTP.

Spam (or Spamming)

An inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list, or USENET or other networked communications facility as if it was a broadcast medium (which it is not) by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn't ask for it. The term probably comes from a famous Monty Python skit which featured the word spam repeated over and over. The term may also have come from someone's low opinion of the food product with the same name, which is generally perceived as a generic content-free waste of resources. (Spam is a registered trademark of Hormel Corporation, for its processed meat product.)

E.g. Mary spammed 50 USENET groups by posting the same message to each.

SQL

(Structured Query Language) -- A specialized programming language for sending queries to databases. Most industrial-strength and many smaller database applications can be addressed using SQL. Each specific application will have its own version of SQL implementing features unique to that application, but all SQL-capable databases support a common subset of SQL.

SSL

(Secure Sockets Layer) -- A protocol designed by Netscape Communications to enable encrypted, authenticated communications across the Internet.

SSL used mostly (but not exclusively) in communications between web browsers and web servers. URL's that begin with 'https' indicate that an SSL connection will be used.

SSL provides 3 important things: Privacy, Authentication, and Message Integrity.

In an SSL connection each side of the connection must have a Security Certificate, which each side's software sends to the other. Each side then encrypts what it sends using information from both its own and the other side's Certificate, ensuring that only the intended recipient can de-crypt it, and that the other side can be sure the data came from the place it claims to have come from, and that the message has not been tampered with.

Top Level Domain: (TLD)

A Top Level Domain (TLD) is the uppermost in the hierarchy of domain names. For example, apexisp.net is our domain name. The "com" is considered the TLD and the "apexisp.net" is considered the second level domain. Together they form a domain name which is unique. There are two types of TLDs. The most common type is the Generic or Global TLDs which include .COM, .NET, .ORG, .MIL, .INT and .EDU. There is a possibility that new gTLDs will be introduced in the near future. National or ccTLDs are two letter country code domains that are managed by a registry designated and controlled by each specific country. Each registry might have differing prices, residency requirements and structure.

Trademark

As it relates to domain names... a word, phrase or slogan used to identify and distinguish the source of the goods or services. Trademark law may be different worldwide. If someone registers a domain name such as microsoft.to then Microsoft would need to go to the courts in Tonga to fight to get the name back. Expensive international litigation is one reason why it is important to protect your trademarks before someone else registers the names.

Transfer (Domain Name)

On occasion, domains are sold to another organization or sometimes the name of a company might change. Most registries require a letter of permission from the old owner to hand over control to the new owner. The procedures for Transfer of ownership will depend on the registry.

URL

(Uniform Resource Locator) -- The standard way to give the address of any resource on the Internet that is part of the World Wide Web (WWW). A URL looks like this: http://www.communitech.net/glossary/ or telnet://anywhere.you.want or news:new.newusers.questions etc.

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.yourname.com) and an IP address.

Whois

Most registries maintain a database of domain names and their associated contact information. Users can query these databases through a program called Whois.

WWW

(World Wide Web) -- Two meanings - First, loosely used: the whole constellation of resources that can be accessed using Gopher, FTP, HTTP, telnet, USENET, WAIS and some other tools. Second, the universe of hypertext servers (HTTP servers) which are the servers that allow text, graphics, sound files, etc. to be mixed together.