Glossary

.NET - .NET is a collection of programming and support tools for “Web services,” enabling developers to produce and implement applications that enable users to use the Web, rather than their own computer, for various services.

Allotted Transfer - Typically, the amount of data you are allowed to serve from your hosting account in a given time period (usually one month).

Anonymous FTP - Anonymous FTP is a means of accessing public files on FTP sites without requiring an FTP account or password.

Apache - Apache is a common web server software package, typically, but not always, used on UNIX/Linux and related architectures.

ASP - ASP, which stands for Active Server Pages, is a Microsoft-produced server-side scripting language, designed for their line of IIS Web Servers.

BSD - BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) is a particular version of UNIX that was developed at and distributed from the University of California at Berkeley. BSD is a somewhat popular server hosting platform.

Catch All E-Mails - Catch-All E-Mail functionality allows e-mail sent to any (invalid) address within a domain to be directed to a specific mailbox. This helps to ensure that any e-mail directed at a specific domain is received, regardless of if it was sent to an e-mail account that does not exist within that domain.

CGI-BIN - CGI, or Common Gateway Interface is a standard way for a web server to pass a web user's request to an application program and to receive data back to forward to the user. CGI-BIN support typically means that, as part of your hosting package, a directory is available in which you may place CGI scripts that you wish to use with your website.

CRON Tab - A CRON tab is file that stores one or more commands to a computer operating system or application server that are to be executed at a specified time.

Custom Error Pages - Hosting providers allowing Custom Error Pages allow you modify the web pages that are displayed when an error is displayed to someone accessing your site. For example, you may wish to have a custom File Not Found page, which could include detailed information or a site search facility.

Data Backup Recovery - Data Backup Recovery refers to the ability to restore lost files from previously created backups (which may be stored on media such as CD-ROMs or magnetic tapes).

Disk Storage / Quota - The maximum amount of disk space available to be used for the files in your hosting account.

DNS Management - DNS Management refers to the capability to manage all DNS records associated with a hosting account, such as NS, A, CNAME, and MX. It also often refers to the ability to manage subdomains.

DNS Wildcards - DNS Wildcards allow all inactive subdomains to be “pointed at” a specific subdomain. For example, a DNS Wildcard would allow requests made to wwq.noblehosts.com to be redirected to www.noblehosts.com.

Domains / Subdomains - A domain is signified by a “domain name,” such as Google.com or NobleHosts.com™. Subdomains allow one to “split” domains using unique identifiers, such as alpha.google.com, beta.google.com, etc. ( Ex: http://subdomain.domainname.com )

E-Mail Alias - An e-mail alias allows you to associate a particular extra e-mail address with a particular POP3/IMAP account. For example, a company could have a POP3 account of info@noblehost.com, but have additional aliases so that mail to feedback@noblehost.com and media@noblehost.com also are automatically directed to info@noblehost.com.

E-Mail Autoresponder - As the name suggests, e-mail autoresponders automatically reply to incoming e-mail. This is often useful to confirm that customer e-mail has been received and that a personal reply will be forthwith shortly.

File Manager - A file manager is a software system that allows one to easily manage files and directories that are part of their hosting account.

Flash Support - Flash Support means that a web server is capable of supporting and serving files created by Macromedia Flash, a popular multimedia presentation development tool.

Free Search Engine Submission Tool - A Free Search Engine Submission tool automates the process of adding your website to a variety of popular search engine indexes, so that the website does not have to be added to each index manually.

FrontPage Server Extensions (from micros - FrontPage Server Extensions are a set of server-side applications that enable you to incorporate the following features, in conjunction with Microsoft FrontPage, without having to write complex software:

FTP - FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, is a highly standardized protocol to transfer files between computers on the Internet.

Full Root Access - Full Root Access indicates that one has the ability to use the system administrator or “super user” account on a given server system.

HTTP / HTTPS - HTTP, or Hyper Text Transfer Protocol and the related protocol, HTTPS or Hyper Text Transfer Protocol - Secure is the set of protocols in which data is typically transferred between a web server and a web browser. Hosting providers that support HTTPS enable data transfer between their servers and web browsers to be secure.

IIS - IIS is a Microsoft web server software package, exclusively used on Windows-based server architectures.

Instant Setup / Activation - Instant Setup/Activation typically means that you are able to immediately access/use a new hosting account as soon as your payment is received by your hosting provider.

IP Address / Static IP Address - Every computer connected to the Internet is identified by a unique “IP (Internet Protocol) Address,” a set of four numbers ranging from 0-255 (e.g. 216.239.51.100). A static IP address means that the IP address assigned to a machine does not ever change.

Linux - A popular open-source operating system, extensively used on Internet servers.

Log Files - Log files are files that, as their name suggests, log information about system events. In the realm of web hosting, log files typically include error logs (attempts to access pages/resources on a web server that failed) and access logs (information on what pages/files/resources were accessed on a specific web server). Such files can be used for a variety of purposes, such as system security and the generation of site statistics.

Mail Bouncer - Mail Bouncers allow e-mail to be “bounced,” so that they appear to originate from a specific domain, regardless of what domain they are originally sent from.

Mailing List - A mailing list is simply a list of e-mail addresses grouped for a specific purpose, such as a list of client e-mail addresses that you wish to use for sending news on your products and services.

Media Type Support - A variety of multimedia file types are in common use. Among these are QuickTime, Windows Media (Audio and Video), and RealAudio/RealVideo. Various web hosting providers allow the use of various combinations of these media files as part of their hosting packages.

MIME Types - MIME (Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extensions) is an addition to the original Internet e-mail protocol, SMTP. It allows one to use e-mail to exchange different kinds of data files, including documents, audio, video, images, and application programs. MIME Types refer to specific classes of data files that are in a common format, such as GIF images or HTML Text.

mSQL / MySQL - mSQL/MySQL refer to two similar relational database management systems that use variants of the extremely popular database-access language, SQL (Structured Query Language).

Nameserver / Private Nameserver - Using “nameservers,” your computer determines what IP (Internet Protocol) address (i.e. 216.239.51.100) corresponds with a particular computer hostname (i.e. "www.google.com"). Hosting companies often operate their own nameservers, and can therefore often provide “private nameservers,” which make it appear (to someone looking on your domain registration record, for example), that you operate your own “private” nameservers under your own domain name.

Password Protected Directories - As the name suggests, Password Protected Directories are directories that contain files that cannot be accessed without providing the appropriate password.

Perl - Perl is a programming language, often used for server-side scripting, that provides access to a number of popular Unix facilities for data management and processing.

PGP - Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a popular software package, designed to encrypt and decrypt Internet e-mail.

PHP - PHP, which stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor is a popular server-side web scripting language, similar to ASP.

POP3 / IMAP - POP3 and IMAP are popular e-mail protocols, and as such, are the “language” that your e-mail client uses to communicate with an e-mail server. The number of POP3/IMAP accounts signifies the number of separate e-mail accounts that are provided by your hosting service.

Pre-installed CGI Scripts - Many hosting providers pre-install commonly used CGI scripts, to make them easily accessible should you wish to use them.

Python - Python is an interpreted, object-oriented programming language similar to Perl, often used for server-side scripting, especially in conjunction with CGI.

RealAudio Support - RealAudio is a streaming sound technology developed by Progressive Networks. To deliver RealAudio sound from your own web site, your hosting provider must have a RealAudio server.

Search Engine Submission Tool - A Search Engine Submission tool automates the process of adding your website to a variety of popular search engine indexes, so that the website does not have to be added to each index manually.

Server Monitoring - Typically, servers are “monitored” for optimal performance and to protect against failures by a combination of human technical support personnel and specially-designed software/hardware systems. Most hosting providers supply 24-hour, 7-day-per-week monitoring of their server systems, in an effort to ensure maximum uptime.

Server Status Report - Server Status Reports indicate the overall condition of a web server, providing information such as the time of last reboot and system load (CPU/memory usage).

Server-Side Scripting Language - Server-side scripting languages enable code to be embedded in documents on a web server, allowing the documents to become “dynamic.” For example, PHP or ASP, both popular server-side scripting languages, can be used to link web pages to content stored in databases.

Shopping Cart - Shopping carts are software packages that manage the process of selling products and services on the world wide web.

Site Backups - Many hosting providers perform regular backups of all files stored on their systems, as a type of insurance against catastrophic data loss.

SMTP Server - An SMTP Server is a server used by an e-mail client to send e-mail via the Internet.

Spam Filter - Spam Filters help to alleviate junk electronic mail (a.k.a. Spam). Spam Filters can use a number of approaches, such as simple filtering of mail from known spam sources to “intelligent” solutions that can automatically discern between junk e-mail and legitimate e-mail.

SSH - SSH stands for “Secure Shell” or “Secure Socket Shell,” a command interface/protocol combination that allows one to securely access remote systems. (SSH is essentially a secure form of “telnet”)

SSI (Server Side Includes) - An SSI (server-side include) is a variable value (such as a given file’s "Last modified" date) that a web server can dynamically “include” in an HTML file before it sends it to the requestor.

SSL - SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol that ensures that communications via the Internet (typically the world wide web) are “secure.” Hosting providers with SSL support enable you to exchange information with the users of your website while being confident that it will not be able to be intercepted by others.

Static IP Address - Every computer connected to the Internet is identified by a unique “IP (Internet Protocol) Address,” a set of four numbers ranging from 0-255 (e.g. 216.239.51.100). A static IP address means that the IP address assigned to a machine does not ever change.

Subdomains - Look under Domains.

Tech Support - Hosting providers have a variety of “technical support” options available if you have problems using their services. Among these are e-mail based support options (such as direct e-mails or “ticket”-based systems), telephone support, instant messenger support, and web-based lived chat facilities.

Telnet - Telnet is an insecure system for remotely accessing a server computer, using a text-based interface.

Unix - Unix is a general family of similar operating system architectures, originally developed at Bell Labs. Modern variants include BSD and Linux.

Unmetered Traffic - Unmetered traffic means that your hosting provider does not restrict the amount of traffic through your website. This means that your provider does not place restrictions on the number of visitors to your site nor on the number of pages served.

Uptime - Uptime is the total amount of time that a computer connected to the Internet is able to serve requests. In a web hosting situation, this indicates the proportion of time that your web site will be available for those who wish to access it.

WAP - WAP, which stands for Wireless Application Protocol, is a set of protocols that standardize the way that wireless devices can be used for Internet access.

Web Based Control Panel - A system, accessed through the Web, that allows you to maintain and configure various aspects of your hosting account. Typically, such control panels provide access to settings for POP3 mailboxes, file management, database creation, and so on.

Web Statistics - Web Statistics include information such as how many visits (also known as “hits”) your site and its files have received, what web browsers are used to visit your sites, the origin of your visitors (i.e. the country they live in), how much traffic your website has used in a given time period, and so on.

WebMail - WebMail is a popular system that allows web-based access to POP3/IMAP mailboxes.

Website Builder - Website Builders are automated tools that simplify the process of creating web sites by automatically generating HTML files based on one’s specifications.

Windows - A collection of popular commercial operating system environments produced by Microsoft, characterized by their unique graphical interface.