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Hosting Glossary

273+ hosting terms explained. Understand the terminology behind web hosting.

273 terms | 36 categories

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A
16 terms

A Record

A DNS record that maps a domain name to an IPv4 address.

Dns

AAAA Record

A DNS record that maps a domain name to an IPv6 address.

Dns

Above the Fold

The portion of a web page visible without scrolling, important for first impressions and performance.

Web

ACID

ACID describes database transaction properties: Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability for reliable processing.

Database

ACME

A protocol for automating SSL certificate issuance and renewal, used by Lets Encrypt.

Security

Addon Domain

An additional domain hosted on the same hosting account, separate from the primary domain. Addon domains let you host multiple websites on a single hosting

Hosting

Ansible

Ansible is an automation tool for configuration management, application deployment, and task automation using YAML playbooks.

Devops

Anycast

Routing technique where same IP address exists in multiple locations.

Networking

Apache

Apache HTTP Server has been the most popular web server for decades. It is highly configurable through modules .htaccess files.

Technology

API (Application Programming Interface)

APIs enable applications to interact with each other, such as connecting your site to payment processors or external services.

Development

API Gateway

Service that manages, secures, and routes API requests.

Networking

ARP

ARP maps IP addresses to MAC addresses on a local network, enabling data link layer communication.

Networking

Auto-Scaling

Automatically adjusting compute resources based on demand to maintain performance and optimize costs.

Cloud

Autonomous System

An autonomous system is a large network or group of networks under a single administrative domain with a unified routing policy, identified by a unique AS number.

Networking

Availability Zone

An isolated location within a cloud region with independent power, cooling, and networking.

Cloud

AWS Lambda

Amazon serverless compute service that runs code in response to events.

Cloud
B
13 terms

BaaS

A cloud service model that provides ready-made backend functionality like authentication, databases, and file storage.

Cloud

Backup

Backups protect your website against data loss from hacking, errors, or hardware failure. Good backups are stored off-site and automated.

Security

Backup Rotation

A scheme for managing backup retention, typically keeping daily, weekly, and monthly backups.

Operations

Bandwidth

The amount of data that can be transferred between your website and visitors over a given period, usually measured monthly.

Resources

Bandwidth Throttling

Intentionally limiting network speed, often to manage congestion or enforce limits.

Networking

Bare Metal Server

A physical server dedicated entirely to one customer without virtualization.

Hosting-types

BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)

Protocol routing traffic between large networks on the internet.

Networking

Block Storage

Block storage divides data into fixed-size blocks, providing raw storage volumes that can be formatted with any filesystem.

Storage

Blue-Green Deployment

Blue-green deployment runs two identical production environments, allowing instant rollback by switching traffic.

Devops

Bounce Rate

The percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page without further interaction.

Analytics

Brute Force

An attack method that tries many passwords or keys systematically until finding the correct one.

Security

BTRFS

Modern Linux filesystem with features like snapshots and checksums.

Storage

Bundling

Combining multiple files into fewer files to reduce HTTP requests and improve load times.

Performance
C
30 terms

Cache Hit

When requested data is found in a cache, avoiding the need to fetch from the origin source.

Performance

Cache Miss

When requested data is not found in cache and must be fetched from the origin source.

Performance

Caching

Caching stores copies of web pages or data so they can be served faster on subsequent requests. Types include browser caching, server caching, and CDN cach

Performance

Caddy

Caddy is a modern web server with automatic HTTPS, known for its simple configuration and security defaults.

Web-server

Canary Deployment

Canary deployment gradually rolls out changes to a small subset of users before deploying to the entire infrastructure.

Devops

Canonical URL

The preferred URL for a page when multiple URLs lead to the same content, preventing duplicate content issues.

Seo

CAP Theorem

CAP theorem states that a distributed system can only guarantee two of three properties: Consistency, Availability, and Partition tolerance.

Database

CcTLD

A top-level domain reserved for a specific country, like .uk for United Kingdom.

Domains

CDN (Content Delivery Network)

CDNs store copies of your website static content on servers worldwide. When someone visits your site, content is served from the nearest server, reducing l

Performance

Certificate Authority

A CA is a trusted entity that issues digital certificates, verifying the identity of certificate holders.

Security

CI/CD

Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment - automated processes for testing and deploying code. CI/CD automates testing and deployment, ensuring cod

Development

Cloud Hosting

Hosting that uses multiple connected servers to provide scalable and reliable website hosting with resource flexibility.

Hosting-types

CLS

A Core Web Vital metric measuring visual stability by tracking unexpected layout shifts during page load.

Performance

CMS (Content Management System)

CMS platforms provide a user-friendly interface for managing website content. WordPress is the most popular CMS, powering over 40% of websites.

Software

CNAME Record

A DNS record that creates an alias pointing one domain to another domain.

Dns

Code Splitting

Breaking code into smaller chunks loaded on demand rather than all at once.

Performance

Cold Standby

A backup system that is not running and must be started when the primary fails.

Operations

Colocation

Colocation lets you use your own servers in a professional data center environment with redundant power, cooling, and high-speed connectivity.

Hosting-types

Connection Pooling

Reusing database connections instead of creating new ones for each request.

Performance

Container

A container is a lightweight, standalone executable package that includes everything needed to run an application.

Virtualization

Container Orchestration

Automated management of containerized applications across multiple hosts.

Containers

Containers

Lightweight, standalone packages that include everything needed to run an application. Containers package code with dependencies, ensuring consistent opera

Technology

Conversion Rate

The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action like purchase or signup.

Analytics

Core Web Vitals

A set of Google metrics (LCP, FID, CLS) measuring real-world user experience for loading, interactivity, and stability.

Performance

CORS

Cross-Origin Resource Sharing - controls which domains can access your resources.

Security

CPanel

CPanel allows users to manage websites, databases, email accounts, files, and more through an intuitive interface. It is the most widely used control panel

Control-panels

Cron

A time-based job scheduler in Unix-like systems for running commands at specified times.

Operations

Cron Job

A scheduled task that runs automatically at specified times on Unix/Linux servers. Cron jobs automate recurring tasks like backups, cleanup scripts, or Wor

Server

CSP (Content Security Policy)

Security header controlling what resources browsers can load.

Security

CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery)

Attack that tricks users into performing unwanted actions on authenticated sites.

Security
D
16 terms

Daemon

A background process that runs continuously, handling service requests.

Operations

Data Center

Data centers provide the physical infrastructure for web hosting including servers, power, cooling, and network connectivity. Location affects latency for

Infrastructure

Database Index

A data structure that improves the speed of data retrieval operations on database tables.

Database

Database Indexing

Data structures that improve database query speed.

Databases

DDoS

An attack that overwhelms a server or network with traffic from multiple sources to make it unavailable.

Security

DDoS Protection

DDoS attacks flood servers with fake traffic to make websites unavailable. DDoS protection filters malicious traffic while allowing legitimate visitors.

Security

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting provides exclusive access to a physical server. You get all resources including CPU, RAM, storage, and bandwidth without sharing with any

Hosting-types

DHCP

DHCP automatically assigns IP addresses and network configuration to devices on a network.

Networking

Disk Space

Disk space is where all your website data is stored including HTML files, images, videos, databases, and emails. SSD storage is faster than traditional HDD

Resources

DKIM

An email authentication method that adds a digital signature to verify message integrity.

Email

DMARC

An email policy that tells receivers how to handle emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks.

Email

DNS (Domain Name System)

DNS acts like a phone book for the internet, converting domain names like example.com into IP addresses like 192.168.1.1 that computers understand.

Networking

Docker

Docker packages applications with their dependencies into containers that run consistently across different environments.

Technology

Docker Swarm

Docker native container orchestration tool.

Containers

Domain Name

A domain name is your website address that users type to visit your site. It consists of a name and extension (TLD) like .com, .org, .net.

Basics

Domain Registrar

Registrars handle domain registration, renewal, and DNS management. Examples include Namecheap, GoDaddy, and Cloudflare.

Domains
E
7 terms
F
7 terms
G
5 terms
H
13 terms

Headless CMS

A CMS that provides content via API without a built-in frontend, allowing any frontend technology.

Web

Helm

Package manager for Kubernetes applications.

Containers

High Availability

A system design approach ensuring minimal downtime through redundancy and failover capabilities. High availability architectures eliminate single points of

Infrastructure

HIPAA

US law protecting sensitive patient health information.

Compliance

Horizontal Scaling

Adding more machines to a system to handle increased load, also known as scaling out.

Cloud

Hot Standby

Backup system running and ready to take over immediately if primary fails.

Infrastructure

HSTS

HTTP Strict Transport Security - tells browsers to always use HTTPS.

Security

Htaccess

Htaccess files configure Apache settings including redirects, password protection, and URL rewriting without server config access.

Server

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

The protocol used for transmitting web pages and data over the internet. HTTP defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and how servers and brows

Protocols

HTTP/3

The latest HTTP version using QUIC protocol for faster, more reliable web connections.

Web

HTTPS (HTTP Secure)

The secure version of HTTP that encrypts data transmission using SSL/TLS. HTTPS uses encryption to protect data in transit, preventing eavesdropping and ta

Protocols

Hyperscaler

A large-scale cloud provider with massive infrastructure capable of scaling to millions of users.

Cloud

Hypervisor

Software that creates and runs virtual machines by dividing hardware resources.

Virtualization
I
17 terms

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

Cloud computing providing virtualized computing resources over the internet.

Cloud

IAM

IAM encompasses policies and technologies for managing digital identities and controlling access to resources.

Security

IDS

An IDS monitors network traffic for suspicious activity and alerts administrators to potential threats.

Security

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)

An email protocol that stores messages on the server, allowing access from multiple devices. IMAP keeps emails on the server, syncing read/unread status an

Email

Incremental Backup

A backup that only stores changes made since the last backup, saving storage space and time.

Operations

Infrastructure as Code

IaC manages and provisions infrastructure through code and configuration files instead of manual processes.

Devops

Ingress

Kubernetes resource managing external access to services in a cluster.

Containers

Init System

The first process started during boot that manages services and system initialization.

Operations

Inode

A data structure that stores information about files on Unix/Linux systems, used as a file count limit. Inodes track files on the server. Hitting inode lim

Resources

Internet Exchange Point

An IXP is a physical location where different internet networks connect and exchange traffic, reducing latency and costs.

Networking

IOPS

Input/Output Operations Per Second - measure of storage performance.

Performance

IP Address

IP addresses identify servers on the internet. Dedicated IPs are assigned exclusively to one account, while shared IPs serve multiple websites.

Networking

IPS

An IPS monitors network traffic and actively blocks detected threats, going beyond detection to prevention.

Security

IPv6

Latest Internet Protocol version with vastly more addresses than IPv4.

Networking

ISCSI

ISCSI is a protocol that allows SCSI commands to be sent over IP networks for block-level storage access.

Storage

Istio

Popular open source service mesh for Kubernetes.

Containers

IXP (Internet Exchange Point)

Physical location where networks connect to exchange traffic.

Networking
J
2 terms
K
4 terms
L
9 terms
M
14 terms

Managed Hosting

With managed hosting, the host takes care of technical tasks like server updates, security patches, backups, and performance optimization. This lets you fo

Hosting-types

Memcached

A distributed memory caching system for speeding up dynamic web applications. Memcached caches data and objects in RAM, reducing database load for high-tra

Technology

Memory Limit

PHP memory limit prevents scripts from using too much server memory. Insufficient limits cause errors on complex operations.

Performance

MFA

MFA requires two or more verification methods to prove identity, combining something you know, have, or are.

Security

Migration

Website migration involves transferring all files, databases, emails, and configurations to a new host while minimizing downtime.

Services

Minification

Removing unnecessary characters from code (spaces, comments) to reduce file size without changing functionality.

Performance

Mitigation

Actions taken to reduce the severity or impact of an attack or security threat.

Security

Mixed Content

When an HTTPS page loads resources over insecure HTTP, causing security warnings.

Security

MTU

MTU is the largest packet size that can be transmitted over a network without fragmentation, typically 1500 bytes for Ethernet.

Networking

Multi-Domain SSL

An SSL certificate that secures multiple different domain names with a single certificate. Multi-domain or SAN (Subject Alternative Name) certificates can

Security

Multi-Tenant

An architecture where a single instance of software serves multiple customers (tenants), sharing resources while keeping data isolated.

Hosting

Multicast

Multicast is one-to-many network transmission where data is sent to a group of interested receivers simultaneously.

Networking

MX Record

A DNS record specifying which mail servers handle email for a domain.

Dns

MySQL

A popular open-source relational database management system commonly used with PHP and WordPress. MySQL stores and manages data for dynamic websites. It wo

Databases
N
7 terms
O
6 terms
P
16 terms

PaaS (Platform as a Service)

Cloud platform for deploying applications without managing infrastructure.

Cloud

Parked Domain

A domain that points to your main domain, displaying the same content. Parked domains redirect or display the same content as your primary domain. Useful f

Domains

PCI-DSS

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard for handling card data.

Compliance

Peering

Direct connection between networks for exchanging traffic.

Networking

Penetration Testing

Authorized simulated attack to evaluate security.

Security

Permalink

A permanent URL for a specific page or post that remains constant over time.

Web

PHP

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) runs on the server to generate dynamic content. WordPress, the most popular CMS, is built with PHP.

Programming

PHP Workers

Server processes that handle PHP requests simultaneously, determining how many users can be served at once. PHP workers process PHP requests. More workers

Performance

PID

A unique number assigned by the operating system to identify each running process.

Operations

PKI

PKI is a system for creating, managing, and validating digital certificates used for secure communication.

Security

Plesk

Plesk offers similar functionality to cPanel but works on both Windows and Linux servers. It has a modern interface and is often preferred for Windows host

Control-panels

Pod

A pod is the smallest deployable unit in Kubernetes, consisting of one or more containers that share storage and network.

Containers

PoP (Point of Presence)

Location where a network has equipment to serve an area.

Networking

POP3 (Post Office Protocol)

An email protocol that downloads messages to a local device and optionally deletes them from the server. POP3 downloads emails to your device. Unlike IMAP,

Email

Port

A numeric identifier for network services, allowing multiple services on one IP.

Networking

Proxy Server

Server that acts as intermediary between clients and other servers.

Networking
Q
3 terms
R
17 terms

RAID

Redundant Array of Independent Disks for data redundancy and/or performance.

Storage

Rate Limiting

Controlling the rate of requests a user can make to an API or service.

Security

RBAC

RBAC assigns permissions to roles rather than individuals, simplifying access management in organizations.

Security

Redirect

Redirects guide visitors from old or alternative URLs to the correct destination. 301 redirects are permanent, 302 are temporary.

Web

Redis

Redis stores data in memory for extremely fast access, commonly used for object caching in WordPress and other applications.

Technology

Region

A geographic location containing multiple data centers or availability zones for cloud services.

Cloud

Replication

Copying data between servers to ensure redundancy and availability.

Databases

Reseller Hosting

Reseller hosting provides the infrastructure to start your own hosting business. You get a master account to create and manage sub-accounts for clients.

Hosting-types

Reserved Instance

A commitment to use specific cloud resources for 1-3 years in exchange for significant discounts.

Cloud

Responsive Design

A design approach where websites adapt their layout to different screen sizes and devices.

Web

REST API

An architectural style for APIs using standard HTTP methods on resources.

Web

Reverse Proxy

Reverse proxies handle incoming requests before passing them to backend servers, enabling load balancing, caching, and security.

Infrastructure

Robots.txt

A file telling search engine crawlers which pages or sections to crawl or avoid.

Seo

Rolling Deployment

Rolling deployment gradually replaces instances of the previous version with the new version one at a time.

Devops

Root Access

Root access (or admin access on Windows) provides complete control over a server, including installing software, modifying configurations, and managing sec

Server-management

RPO

The maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time, determining backup frequency.

Operations

RTO

The maximum acceptable time to restore service after a failure or disaster.

Operations
S
29 terms

SaaS (Software as a Service)

Software delivery model where applications are hosted and accessed via internet.

Cloud

SAN

A SAN is a dedicated high-speed network that provides access to consolidated block-level storage.

Storage

SATA

SATA is a standard interface for connecting storage devices like hard drives and SSDs to computers.

Storage

Scalability

Scalability allows your hosting to grow with your needs. Vertical scaling adds more resources to existing servers; horizontal scaling adds more servers.

Infrastructure

SEO

Practices to improve a websites visibility in search engine results pages.

Web

Serverless Computing

Cloud execution model where the provider manages servers and you pay per execution.

Cloud

Service Mesh

Infrastructure layer for handling service-to-service communication.

Containers

Sharding

Splitting a database across multiple servers for scalability.

Databases

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is the most affordable and beginner-friendly hosting option. Your website shares server resources with potentially hundreds of other sites.

Hosting-types

SIEM

SIEM systems collect and analyze security logs from multiple sources to detect threats and compliance issues.

Security

Single-Tenant

An architecture where each customer has their own dedicated instance of software and infrastructure.

Hosting

SLA (Service Level Agreement)

An SLA defines the minimum service levels the host guarantees, typically including uptime percentage. If the host fails to meet the SLA, you may receive se

Business

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

The protocol used for sending emails from clients to servers and between servers. SMTP handles outgoing email delivery while IMAP/POP3 handle incoming emai

Email

SOC 2

Security certification for service organizations handling customer data.

Compliance

SPF

An email authentication method specifying which servers can send email for your domain.

Email

Spot Instance

Unused cloud capacity offered at steep discounts but can be terminated when demand increases.

Cloud

SQL Injection

Attack inserting malicious SQL code into database queries.

Security

SSD (Solid State Drive)

A storage device using flash memory that provides faster data access and better performance than traditional hard drives.

Technology

SSE

A technology for servers to push updates to browsers over HTTP.

Web

SSH (Secure Shell)

SSH provides encrypted command-line access to your server. It is used for advanced server management, Git deployments, and running scripts.

Protocols

SSL Certificate

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates encrypt data transmission to protect sensitive information. Modern browsers flag non-HTTPS sites as insecure, and S

Security

SSL Passthrough

Forwarding encrypted SSL/TLS traffic directly to backend servers without decrypting at the proxy.

Security

SSL Termination

Decrypting SSL/TLS traffic at a load balancer or proxy.

Security

Staging Environment

Staging environments mirror your live site, allowing you to test updates, plugins, and changes without risking your production website.

Development

Staging Site

A clone of your live website used for testing changes before deploying to production. Staging sites let you test updates, plugins, and changes safely witho

Development

Static Site Generator

A tool that generates static HTML pages from templates and content, served without server-side processing.

Web

Subdomain

Subdomains create separate sections of your site with distinct addresses. They can point to different servers or content.

Domains

Swap Space

Disk space used as virtual memory when RAM is exhausted.

Operations

Systemd

A modern init system and service manager used by most Linux distributions.

Operations
T
13 terms
U
5 terms
V
7 terms
W
9 terms
X
2 terms
Y
1 terms
Z
2 terms
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