Web Hosting Glossary

Below are some commonly used terms which have various meanings applicable to web hosting.

Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the measurement of data transfer capacity your host supports for your website. Bandwidth is generally measured on a monthly basis.

CGI-BIN
A cgi-bin (Common Gateway Interface) is a directory found on web servers that allows for the use of .cgi and .pl files. CGI files/scripts are commonly used to provide such things as website counters, guestbooks and contact forms.

CHMOD
CHMOD is a set of permissions you assign to a file. Scripts and files can be CHMOD to read, write, or execute or a combination of all of the above.

cPanel
cPanel is a web-based control panel we have on our web servers to help you manage your hosting account online.

DNS
DNS (Domain Name System) is a translation between domain names and IP addresses that allows for your site to be viewed online.

FTP
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the easiest most secure way to transfer files over the Internet. By using an FTP program you'll be able to securely transfer and manage files from your local computer to your web space with us.

IMAP
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is a method of accessing email or newsgroup postings which are stored on a server. Using IMAP allows you to download email and newsgroup postings to your local computer whilst retaining a copy of the original on the server.

MySQL
MySQL is a database management system that holds a structured collection of data. SQL databases are commonly used to store information such as forum data, shopping carts etc.

Nameservers
Nameservers (i.e. ns1.ukwebsolutionsdirect.com, and ns2.ukwebsolutionsdirect.com) are essentially addresses much like your house address, Nameservers point your domain to the correct web hosting server so that when someone enters your URL your webpage is displayed on their web browser.

Propagation
Propagation is the time it takes for your DNS settings to register across the Internet and become completely active.

POP
POP (Post Office Protocol) is the Internet standard for inbound mail from your web hosting account. POP technology allows you to retrieve email from your web hosting account and download it to your local computer via an email client such as Outlook.

SMTP
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is the Internet standard for host-to-host mail transport. SMTP servers control all the outgoing mail from your domain based web hosting account.

SSL
SSL (Secure Socket Layer) works to establish an encrypted link between a website and a client's browser. Communication between the two parties is encrypted which protects information from being intercepted. Secure sites utilising SSL will have URLs that begin with "https://", confirming for you that the site is secure.

Subdomain
A subdomain is an address which operates just below your top level address. Subdomains are easy to remember addresses that serve as extensions of your top level domain name, an example being anything.yourdomain.com.

WHM
WHM (WebHost Manager) the control panel used to manage your reseller account with us, WHM allows you to create and manage your own hosting accounts.

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