Web Hosting Glossary
Active Server Page (ASP or ASP.NET)
An Active Server Page (ASP or ASP.Net) is an HTML page that includes one
or more scripts (small embedded programs) that are processed on a Microsoft
Web server before the page is sent to the user.
Aliased DNS Servers
Aliasing your nameserver allows you to keep your primary hosting provider
transparent. By running "whois" queries on your domain name,
a client can often detect that you are reselling services. Therefore,
many hosting companies provide to resellers the option of aliased nameservers.
Apache
Apache is a Linux / Unix-based Web server that is used to host about half
the sites on the Internet. Originally, Apache was a Unix product, but
now versions for Windows, OS/2 and other platforms exist. As with most
open-source projects, there are numerous add-ons and tailored versions
of the server available, which are created using the Apache module API.
The name comes from its origins as a series of "patch files."
Applet
A small Java program that can be embedded in an web page. Applets differ
from full-fledged Java applications in that they are not allowed to access
certain resources on the local computer, such as files and serial devices
(modems, printers, etc.), and are prohibited from communicating with most
other computers across a network. The current rule is that an applet can
only make an Internet connection to the computer from which the applet
was sent.
Bandwidth (Data Transfer)
Bandwidth or data transfer is the measure of the traffic generated from
your website. It is measured in bytes, kilo bytes (KB), mega bytes (MB)
or giga bytes (GB).
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.
Control Panel
A control panel is a web based tool for administrating the web site. It
helps a webmaster to easily access the settings, tools, utilities provided
by the web host via a user friendly interface. With the click of a mouse,
he can administer the web space, domain names, e-mail accounts, directories,
cgi-bin (program script storage area) and all the special features offered,
including site statistics and shopping carts.
Co-located hosting
This hosting option gives webmasters complete control over their server.
You are responsible for providing the physical hardware and network administration;
the hosting company will provide you with the rack space and Internet
connection.
Dedicated hosting
This type of hosting allows a webmaster to rent an entire server. This
server is not shared with anybody. This
is more flexible than shared hosting (see below), as webmasters have full
control over the server, including choice of operating system, hardware,
etc.
Ecommerce Shopping Cart
Shopping cart is important for any e-commerce websites. Most of the Unix
Web Hosting companies provides the shopping cart in their web hosting
plan. This enables the business to add their product on the web and the
start online shop. Shopping cart enables the web site to create a custom
receipt and order page and emails both you and the customer when an order
is completed.
Secure Server (SSL)
Securing the data transferred to and from the web server is very important
for some business. So, its very import to have the SSL support for the
web sites.
Server Side Includes (SSI)
SSI (Server Side Includes) are directives that are placed in HTML pages,
and evaluated on the server while the pages are being served. They let
you add dynamically generated content to an existing HTML page, without
having to serve the entire page via a CGI program, or other dynamic technology.
Almost all the web hosting companies provides SSI support in their web
hosting package.
PHP
A server-side, cross-platform, HTML embedded scripting language. PHP is
supported by Unix hosts.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol or the method used to "upload" your web
site files to storage space on our network. Unix Web Hosting supports
FTP.
Anonymous FTP
Capability of setting up a public area where anonymous users can upload
and download files from your domain FTP site or browser.
Telnet
Telnet is a telecommunications software utility which allows you to access
to a server and become a user on a remote computer. Once you access the
remote terminal, you can use it for its intended purposes. Telnet is also
supported if your web hosting company enables it for your account.
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