Web Hosting Terminology in Layman’s Terms – Simple Guide

Finding the right web hosting can be a challenging task for professional webmasters but it can be especially challenging for beginners looking to host a website for the first time.  As a professional web hosting researcher I spend countless hours researching web hosting companies to determine each host’s strengths and weaknesses. I then take my research and create web hosting reviews for my website.

One day I started thinking about the knowledge that I have obtained and the terminology that I often throw around on my website and I realized that many individuals may not completely understand the web hosting “lingo”.  To help those who may not be a expert in web hosting better understand the products in which they are purchasing I have decided to write this article to explain the sometimes misunderstood web hosting language.

This article is for beginner web hosting users; I will explain each term to the simplest degree possible for a better understanding you may want to complete further research.

Terminology Explained

Bandwidth
Controls the amount of traffic your website can handle 
- Tip:  The higher the bandwidth the better

CGI
A simple script that processes data submitted by a website visitor
- Example:  Most online forums (enter name, address, phone, etc.) use CGI.

CGI-BIN
The place on a web server where CGI scripts are stored

CPANEL
The tool that allows you to control information on your web server

Dedicated Hosting
A more expensive form of web hosting.  Cheaper hosting plans share a web server with others who are hosting websites.  Dedicated hosting allows a user to have his/her own server.  Increased server speeds and less server downtime can be expected with a dedicated hosting plan.

Disk Space
See “Hosting Space” below

Domain Name
A domain name is the actual name of the website that must be entered in a address bar to access a website
-Example:  www.AlreadyHosting.com is my domain name.

Domain Name Forever
Many hosting sites offer a free “domain name” free of cost forever with the purchase of any hosting package.

Firewall
A security feature for your web server
- Analogy: Not Anti-virus but instead Anti-Hacker

 FrontPage Extensions
FrontPage is a popular web site builder program.  A web server with FrontPage extensions support many of FrontPage’s add-on features
- Tip: If you use FrontPage you will want to have FrontPage extensions on your server.

FTP
A way to connect to your web server from your personal computer.

Linux Web Hosting
The base/foundation software of the web hosting server
- Analogy: Linux is to web server as Windows is to personal computers

Hosting Space
The amount of space that you have available on your web server
- Analogy: Hosting Space is to web server as Hard Drive is to personal computer.

IP
The unique address of “data packets” on the internet
- Analogy: IP is to internet as fingerprint is to human

POP
A way to connect web server email accounts to programs such as Outlook and Express Outlook

Reseller Hosting
A reseller hosting plan gives the customer the necessary tools needed to sell his/her own hosting plans for a profit

Shared Hosting
The most affordable and basic way to host a website.  With shared hosting multiple websites are stored on the same web server, sharing resources
- Tip: This is the opposite of dedicated hosting

SiteBuilder
Free software that many web hosting sites offer, this software allows customers to build websites without the need of expensive software.

Stats
Software on a web server that enables you to see visitor information
- Example:  “this article had 1,203 views yesterday”

SQL
SQL is a website language that is used to request data from a database on your web server
- Tip: Microsoft Access is an example of a database

Sub-Domain
- Example:  “www.AlreadyHosting.com” is my domain name “www.hostingreviews.alreadyhosting.com” would be an example of a sub-domain

Virtual Host
Just like shared hosting, multiple websites are hosted on the same server

VPS – Virtual Private Server
Increases privacy and web server performance.
- Tip: The middle grown between a virtual hosting account and a dedicated hosting account

Windows Hosting
Most web hosting servers are either windows based or Linux based
- Analogy: The operating system of a web server

 

This web hosting information was brought to you by the hosting experts at AlreadyHosting.com. If you are looking for additional web hosting terminology explanations I would recommend HostMonster’s Help Center.

Web Hosting In Layman’s Terms

A web hosting company is like the gateway to having your website published on the Internet. Without a hosting company, it would be very costly and nearly impossible to have a website. There are many reasons people want to have a website of their own. Some of these reasons include wanting a business, showcasing and teaching hobbies or wanting to share information with those in the worldwide community.

More and more traditional businesses are realizing that it is important to have a website to complement their business. Many customers turn to the web for information before they will visit a traditional shop. Websites and traditional businesses are a lot alike in the way they are set up. Once you understand the basics of business, then you will understand how web-hosting works.

When you think of a web-hosting company, it is a lot like a real-estate agent. When you want to open a shop in the traditional sense, you see a real-estate agent, find a suitable shop, sign some forms that say you agree to the rental terms and conditions, then you are given the key to your shop. Once you have the key to your shop, you can begin setting up your business just the way you like it.

Web-hosting companies are a lot like that. They require you to sign up and agree to terms and conditions. Once you have signed up, you are provided with your “keys” or login information to access your own piece of cyber space. With the login information, you can then begin to upload or transfer the things you need to make your website viable, whether it is data or pictures.

Another thing that you will need from a web hosting company is an address. Just like a conventional business, you will need a way for your customers to find you. These addresses are known as domain names and always begin with www. The important thing to remember about a domain name is that, if you don’t pay a yearly fee on it, it could get sold to someone else.

Web-hosting companies also provide their customers with email access from their website, a lot like having your own fax machine or message bank in a traditional business setting. Email servers will allow you to communicate and receive information or requests from customers or people interested in getting more information about your website.

For businesses, web-hosting companies can also provide Eftpos facilities or a place for your customers to order goods or services from your website. Customers can pay on the spot and the website owner can have the goods or service delivered to them.

If you were planning to rent a building for your business, you would want to shop around and not take the first place that you saw or go with the first real estate agent you spoke with. Web-hosting companies are the same. There are thousands of different companies out there and each one varies in price and in the services that they provide. The cheapest hosting company is not always best for your business.