| .htaccess |
The default name of a
configuration file that contains server directives (small commands
known by the server) that tell the server how to behave. A .htaccess
file is used to restrict access (password-protection) to specific
files and/or directories on the Internet or an intranet. |
| Access |
MS Access® published by
Microsoft is an easy to use and highly integrated database creation
and maintenance software. Capable of online databases, the software
is supported with the NT hosting platform. |
| ASCII |
(American Standard Code for
Information Interchange) -- This is the de facto world-wide standard
for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper
and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are
128 standard ASCII codes each of which can be represented by a 7
digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111, plus parity. |
| 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 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.
A 1000 MB bandwidth per month is approximately equivalent to 66000
page views per month |
| Baud |
Unit of signaling speed equal to
the number of discrete signal elements transmitted per second. Baud
is synonymous with bits per second (bps). In common usage the baud
rate of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second.
Technically, baud is the number of times per second that the carrier
signal shifts value - for example a 1200 bit-per-second modem
actually runs at 300 baud, but it moves 4 bits per baud (4 x 300 =
1200 bits per second). |
| Bit |
A single digit number in base-2,
in other words, either a 1 or a zero. The smallest unit of
computerized data. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second. |
| Bps |
(Bits-Per-Second) -- A
measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another. A
28.8 modem can move 28,800 bits per second. |
| Browser |
Client software that is used to
look at various kinds of Internet resources. Examples include
Microsoft`s Internet Explorer and Netscape`s Navigator. |
| Byte |
A set of Bits that represent a
single character. Usually there are 8 Bits in a Byte, sometimes
more, depending on how the measurement is being made. |
| Catch-all
Email Account |
An email account in which an
email of the form, anything, will go to you. For
example, Support, Webmaster, and anything-else,
will all be sent to the account (some hosts allow you to have these
sent to different accounts) set up for you. |
| 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-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. |
| Client |
A software program that is used
to contact and obtain data from a server software program on another
computer, often across a great distance. Each client program is
designed to work with one or more specific kinds of server programs,
and each server requires a specific kind of client. A web browser
and an FTP program are specific kinds of clients. |
| Cold Fusion |
A scripting language for advanced
web development and database interfacing. Cold Fusion supports
Microsoft 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. |
| Data
Transfer / Hits |
Any outward-bound traffic from
your web site is considered data transfer. For example, each time a
html file, image, or other element on your web page is loaded, data
transfer is generated. |
| Detailed Web
Statistics |
Comprehensive daily graphical
reports on your website visitor demographics. Allows you to monitor
how much traffic goes to your Website. |
| Disk Space |
Disk space refers to the amount
of server disk storage your account is allocated. This space is used
to store your html files, graphics, audio clips, POP mail messages,
databases and all other files that make up your Web site. |
| DNS: Domain
Naming System |
The DNS is a distributed,
replicated that allows name servers to map easily remembered domain
names to an IP number. |
| 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. 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. |
| E-Commerce |
Electronic Commerce. Refers to
the general exchange of goods and services via the Internet. |
| E-mail |
(Electronic Mail) -- Messages
sent from one person to another via computer. E-mail can also be
sent automatically to a large number of addresses (Mailing List). |
| E-Mail Auto
Responders |
Auto responders may be used to
send automated responses to incoming e-mail sent to a specific
address. An auto responder could be used to send a standard
messages. |
| Email
Forwarding |
- Having email automatically sent
(forwarded) from one (or more) email address, to another (possibly
more than one) email address that you specify. If a person has
`unlimited email forwarding`, then an email of the form, anything
will be sent to forwarding address. For example, Support,
Webmaster, and Anything-else, will all be sent to
the account (some hosts allow you to have these sent to different
accounts) specified to be sent to. |
| Encryption |
Processing and changing data so
that only the intended recipient can read it. The recipient of the
encrypted data must have the proper decryption key and program to
decipher the data. |
| Farm |
A server farm is a group of
load-balanced servers IP addresses or server names. The farm is
identified by a virtual IP address or a virtual server name and may
contain many different physical âmember serversâ. Depending on
the complexity of your requirements a single farm may contain
various services such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP, streaming audio/video,
etc. all within itself or you may have separate farms associated
with each service you wish to load balance. Farms may contain farms
of farms for various complex configuration requirements. |
| FFA |
Free for all. Scripts that
automatically update a links listing (these are usually submitted to
by automated programs). |
| Finger |
An Internet software tool for
locating people on other Internet sites. Finger is also sometimes
used to give access to non-personal information, but the most common
use is to see if a person has an account at a particular Internet
site. Many sites do not allow incoming Finger requests. |
| Fire Wall |
A combination of hardware and
software that separates a LAN into two or more parts for security
purposes. |
| 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. |
| Gigabyte |
1024 Megabytes |
| Guest book |
A script on a web page with a
form which allows your website visitors to sign in, and leave
comments or questions. |
| Hit |
As used in reference to the World
Wide Web, `hit` means a single request from a web browser for a
single item from a web server; thus in order for a web browser to
display a page that contains 3 graphics, 4 `hits` would occur at the
server: 1 for the HTML page, and one for each of the 3 graphics. |
| Home Page |
The first web page that is
displayed after starting a web browser such as Netscape Navigator or
Microsoft Internet Explorer. (2) The intended beginning page of a
website on the Internet. |
| Home Page
(or Homepage) |
Several meanings. Originally, the
web page that your browser is set to use when it starts up. The more
common meaning refers to the main web page for a business,
organization, person or simply the main page out of a collection of
web pages. Usually the home page is indicated as
index.htm,index.html, default.asp, index.asp etc.. |
| Host |
A computer on a network which
provides disk storage or services to other computers on the network. |
| Hosting |
Every website, email, file, or
online service is stored (called `hosted`) on a computer (called a
server) which is connected to the Internet. |
| HTML |
(HyperText Markup Language) --
The coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on
the World Wide Web. |
| 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). |
| Index Server |
Index Server indexes the contents
and properties of documents on an Internet or intranet Web site
served by IIS 4.0. Index Server enables Web clients with any browser
to search a Web site by filling in the fields of an HTML query form. |
| InterNIC |
InterNIC (now known as Network
Solutions) currently holds an exclusive contract with the U.S.
government to assign domain names for .COM, .NET and .ORG. Network
Solutions is the company that runs the InterNIC registry. |
| Intranet |
A private network inside a
company or organization that uses the same kinds of software that
you would find on the public Internet, but that is only for internal
use. |
| IP Number |
(Internet Protocol Number) --
Sometimes called a dotted quad. A unique number consisting of 4
parts separated by dots. 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. |
| IP Number
(Internet Protocol Number) |
A unique number consisting of 4
numbers (0-255) separated by periods (e.g. 216.167.127.138). Every
computer that is on the Internet has a unique IP number. It is
sometimes referred to as a `dotted quad`. |
| IRC |
(Internet Relay Chat) --
Basically a huge multi-user live chat facility. There are a number
of major IRC servers around the world which are linked to each
other. Anyone can create a channel and anything that anyone types in
a given channel is seen by all others in the channel. Private
channels can (and are) created for multi-person conference calls. |
| ISP |
(Internet Service Provider) -- An
institution that provides access to the Internet. |
| Java |
Java is a network-oriented
programming language invented by Sun Microsystems that is
specifically designed for writing programs that can be safely
downloaded to your computer through the Internet and immediately run
without fear of viruses or other harm to your computer or files.
Using small Java programs (called `Applets`), Web pages can include
functions such as animations, calculators, and others. |
| Kilobyte |
A thousand bytes. Actually,
usually 1024 (210) bytes. |
| LAN |
(Local Area Network) -- A
computer network limited to the immediate area, usually the same
building or floor of a building. |
| Leased-line |
Refers to a phone line that is
rented for exclusive 24-hour, 7 -days-a-week use from your location
to another location. The highest speed data connections require a
leased line. |
| Load
Balancing |
Load balancing is the act of
distributing the load of a single web site or other service to
multiple physical servers. It can be accomplished using a number of
simple as well as more complex methods, such as round robin, least
users, least traffic, or weights defined per server, among others.
It offers lower cost, higher performance and reliability than having
one large enterprise-scale server. A load-balanced server set
provides redundancy and practically infinite scalability. If one
server goes down, there is no noticeable effect on end users and no
downtime; new servers can be added and servers taken down for
maintenance transparently to end users. A load-balanced set can
consist of as little as two servers, or of thousands of servers. The
term load balancing refers to front end (i.e. incoming traffic)
distribution only; load balancing does not include back-end
functionality such as data replication or mirroring; that further
service is known as clustering. |
| Login |
The account name used to gain
access to a computer system. |
| Mbps |
Abbreviation for Millions of Bits
Per Second, or Megabits Per Second. It is a measure of bandwidth on
a telecommunications medium. |
| Megabyte |
A million bytes. A thousand
kilobytes. |
| Message
Board |
A script on a web page(s) with a
form which allows you to host discussions on your web site. You can
make these discussions anything you want, or you can let your
visitors choose the topic. It is also called a web board or a forum. |
| Mirror |
To mirror is to maintain an exact
copy of something. Probably the most common use of the term on the
Internet refers to `mirror sites` which are web sites, or FTP sites
that maintain exact copies of material originated at another
location, usually in order to provide more widespread access to the
resource. Another common use of the term `mirror` refers to an
arrangement where information is written to more than one hard disk
simultaneously, so that if one disk fails, the computer keeps on
working without losing anything. |
| MP3 (Mpeg
Layer 3) |
An audio compression standard, or
file type, for encoding music. |
| MS Access
Database |
Microsoft Access is the best
selling database in the world since it comes bundled in Microsoft
Office. Powerful and fully compatible with ASP scripting. MS access
is perfect small (less than 10000 records) applications. |
| MS Index
Server |
A search engine facility for NT
based websites. |
| MS SQL
Database |
High-end performance database
application for NT servers, for large and complicated back-end
integration of database files. |
| MS Visual
InterDev |
A tool commonly used for database
integration on NT servers. |
| MySQL
Database |
Widely regarded as the best
open-source UNIX based SQL database. |
| Name Servers |
A computer that performs the
mapping of easily remembered domain names to IP addresses. Sometimes
referred to as a host server. |
| Netscape® |
A WWW Browser and the name of a
company now owned by AOL. The Netscape(tm) browser. Netscape has
diminished in popularity and is generally considered inferior to
Microsoft`s Explorer browser. |
| Network |
Any time you connect 2 or more
computers together so that they can share resources, you have a
computer network. Connect 2 or more networks together and you have
an internet. |
| Newsgroup |
The name for discussion groups on
USENET. |
| Node |
Any single computer connected to
a network. |
| NT |
Windows NT® is Microsoft`s®
32-bit operating system. Used by web hosting companies in the
network environment to offer customers support for Microsoft base
products such as MS Access®, MS SQL® 7.0, and FrontPage® 2000. |
| OC-3 |
Refers to a circuit that
transmits 155,000,000 bits per second. This is the size of the
largest Internet backbone providers networks. |
| OCx |
Optical Carrier levels - Used to
specify the speed of fiber optic networks. The base rate (OC-1) is
51.84 Mbps. OC-2 runs at twice the base rate, OC-3 at three times
the base rate, etc. Planned rates include OC-1, OC-3 (155.52 Mbps),
OC-12 (622.08 Mpbs), OC-24 (1.244 Gbps), and OC-48 (2.488 Gbps). |
| Packet
Switching |
The method used to move data
around on the Internet. In packet switching, all the data coming out
of a machine is broken up into chunks, each chunk has the address of
where it came from and where it is going. This enables chunks of
data from many different sources to co-mingle on the same lines, and
be sorted and directed to different routes by special machines along
the way. This way many people can use the same lines at the same
time. |
| Parking
(Domain Name) |
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 (hosting, e-mail ect..)
for that particular domain name |
| Password |
A code used to gain access to a
locked system. |
| Perl |
A scripting (programming)
language which is commonly used to write CGI programs to be run from
a website. Perl programs are text files that are parsed (run through
and executed) by a program called an `interpreter` on the server. |
| PHP |
- A scripting language. The PHP
scripts, or commands, which are embedded in the web page`s HTML, are
executed on the web server to generate dynamic HTML pages (e.g.
search results from a database). See php.net. |
| Port |
3 meanings. First and most
generally, a place where information goes into or out of a computer,
or both. E.g. the serial port on a personal computer is where a
modem would be connected. On the Internet port often refers to a
number that is part of a URL, appearing after a colon (http://www.axelhosting.com/spacer.gif) right
after the domain name. Every service on an Internet server listens
on a particular port number on that server. Most services have
standard port numbers, e.g. Web servers normally listen on port 80.
Services can also listen on non-standard ports, in which case the
port number must be specified in a URL when accessing the server. |
| Propagation |
The process by the name servers
throughout the world have updated their records for a specific
domain. For example, if you move your domain from one host to
another, it will take around 24-48 hours or so for the new address
to broadcast everywhere. During that period, the traffic is
decreasing at the old location and increasing at the new location. |
| Raw Log
Files |
For statistical analysis, you may
download for compiling on your local machine. |
| Real Audio /
Real Video |
Real Audio/Real Video enables
users to send and receive audio, video and other multimedia services
using the Web. |
| Registrant
(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
nameservers use to resolve domain names. For example, InterNIC is
the registry for .COM, .NET and .ORG domain names. |
| Router |
A special-purpose computer (or
software package) that handles the connection between 2 or more
networks. Routers spend all their time looking at the destination
addresses of the packets passing through them and deciding which
route to send them on. |
| Security
Certificate |
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 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. A single server machine could have several different server
software packages running on it, thus providing many different
servers to clients on the network. |
| Server
Cluster |
A Cluster is a a group of
physical servers, which run front end web server software and
contain back end data base-type facilities. A Cluster can be as
simple as a two servers, one front end and one back end, but
normally a cluster will have several servers. Clusters contain
facilities for services such as load balancing and data replication.
Clusters offer enhanced security, redundancy and enhanced
performance and are a natural evolution to any successful complex
web site or Internet-based application. |
| Server Side
Includes |
Add the convenience and
flexibility of embedding CGI capability into your web pages. |
| Shockwave |
Shockwave, produced by
Macromedia, allows you to view new forms of entertainment on the
Web, such as games, music, chat, interactive product demos, and
e-merchandising applications |
| Shopping
Cart |
Allows you to sell or purchase
goods or services via your website. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| SSI
(Server-Side Includes) |
Scripting commands which can be
embedded within a web page and parsed by the web server. These are
commonly used to include files (such as a header or footer) that are
used on multiple pages; show date and time; provide a `back` link;
or execute CGI scripts such as counters and rotating banners. |
| 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. |
| SSL
Encryption |
Secure Socket Layers (SSL) allows
you to encrypt credit card numbers or other confidential documents
so that it is impossible to intercept during a transmission. |
| T-1 |
A leased-line connection capable
of carrying data at 1,544,000 bits-per-second. |
| T-3 |
A leased-line connection capable
of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits-per-second. |
| TCP/IP |
(Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol) -- This is the suite of protocols that
defines the Internet. Originally designed for the UNIX operating
system, TCP/IP software is now available for every major kind of
computer operating system. To be truly on the Internet, your
computer must have TCP/IP software. |
| Telnet |
The command and program used to
login from one Internet site to another. The telnet command program
gets you to the login: prompt of another host. |
| Terabyte |
1024 gigabytes (GB). |
| 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). |
| VB Script |
The Microsoft® Visual Basic®
programming language, is a fast, portable, lightweight interpreter
for use in World Wide Web browsers and other applications that use
Microsoft® ActiveX® Controls, Automation servers, and Java
applets. |
| WAN |
(Wide Area Network) -- Any
internet or network that covers an area larger than a single
building or campus. |
| Web |
WWW is the World Wide Web |
| Web Page |
An HTML document with its own web
address (URL). The first page you usually request at a web site is
called the `home page`. With frames, multiple pages (HTML files) can
be downloaded to a browser and arranged on designated sections of
the display screen at the same time -- these are also collectively
termed a `web page`. |
| Web server |
A Web server is a program that,
using the client/server model and the World Wide Web`s Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (HTTP), serves the files that form Web pages to
Web users (whose computers contain HTTP clients that forward their
requests). Every computer on the Internet that contains a Web site
must have a Web server program. Two leading Web servers are Apache,
the most widely-installed Web server, and Microsoft`s Internet
Information Server (IIS). Other Web servers include Novell`s Web
Server for users of its NetWare operating system and IBM`s family of
Lotus Domino servers, primarily for IBM`s OS/390 and AS/400
customers. |
| Web Site |
A collection of interlinked web
pages on a particular subject, usually under a single Domain Name,
which includes an intended beginning file called a `home page`. From
the home page, you can get to all the other pages on the web site. |
| Webspace |
Hard drive data storage space
accessed via the Internet - it may be used to store data files or
host websites, depending on the hosts` terms. |
| Whois |
Most registries maintain a
database of domain names and their associated contact information.
Users can query these databases through a program called Whois. |
| WYSIWYG |
Acronym for `What You See Is What
You Get`. A WYSIWYG editor or program is one that allows you to
create a web page, text, or graphical user interface so that you can
see what the end result will look like while the document or
interface is being created. WYSIWYG web page editors, such as
Microsoft FrontPage and Adobe PageMill, conceal the markup language
(HTML) and allow you to think entirely in terms of how the page
should appear. |
| Zone file |
The group of files that reside on
the domain host or name server. The zone file designates a domain,
its sub-domains and mail server. |
ORDER CHECKOUT
