Website Hosting Provider Defined
Definitions of Common Web Hosting Terms
These are common web website hosting terms defined in plain language. These aren’t technical definitions but rather what they mean in terms of web website hosting
Define:Web Hosting
Define:Gigabyte
Define:Bandwidth
Define:Domain Names
Define:Top Level Domain
Define:MySQL
Define:MSSQL
Define:Linux / UNIX
Define:SSH
Define:Windows
Define:Virtual Private Servers
Define:Dedicated Servers
Define:Email Addresses
Define:Apache
Define:IIS
Web Hosting:
The service of providing online storage space to be used for server web pages.
Gigabtye:
The most common increment used to measure storage space. A gigabyte is approximatly 1,000 megabytes. A good rule of thumb when determining how much storage space your website will need is to assume each webpage without lots of multimedia content will be around one half of a megabyte. Pictures, music, and other multimedia content require around 2 megabyte as piece.
Bandwidth:
Bandwidth measures the amount of traffic sent to and from your web website hosting account. Anytime someone accesses your site they require data to be transferred. For example: if 20 people view a 2 megabyte photo 40 megabytes of your bandwidth is used. Most of our website hosting partners has such high limits on bandwidth and storage space that these are often not limiting factors.
Domain Name:
The domain name is your web address and is most commonly identified as your website. Domain names are the most familiar part of the web experience. Anything.com, somebusiness.biz, mywebsite.org are all examples of domain names. These domain names show examples of different domain extensions or top level domain.
Top Level Domain:
The part of a website address following the “dot” .com .org .biz .info .us are all example of top level domains. Different top level domains cost different amounts, however, keep in mind that the cheaper extensions may effect your sites performance in search engines. It is always in your best interest to stick to the common extensions: .com, .org, or .biz
MySQL:
(pronounced “My Sequel”) is a type of database used to common support many different web based applications. The number of MySQL databases included in your website hosting account will affect your total capabilities. A website hosting package that allows 5 databases would allow you to have 5 different blogs, or photo galleries. This is an important limitation to consider when selecting your desired website hosting package.
MSSQL:
(pronounced “M S S Q L”) should not be confused with a MySQL database but is a Microsoft certified database language used to power certain applications such as DotNet Nuke. If you have selected a specific type of web program that requires a MSSQL database be certain your website hosting platform supports this type of database.
Linux/UNIX:
These are the most common operating systems used to power servers. Most web host utilize a Linux or UNIX style platform. The difference between these systems for you as the consumer are often very negliable since most shared website hosting platforms don’t allow access to system configurations.
SSH:
Command line access to the server also known as root access or shell access. If your specific program requires this level of access to the server often you will be required to use a virtual private server or a dedicated server instead of shared website hosting.
Windows:
Not to be confused with the standard Windows operating system, “Windows” in the website hosting world refers to Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2008. This means the server powering your website hosting uses a Windows based operating system. Windows servers support different programming languages. Often Windows website hosting is more expensive since this software needs to be purchased whereas Linux/UNIX are open source programs.
Virtual Private Server:
A specific type of server configured to allow the customer access to a “virtual” part of the machine. These website hosting packages often allow greater access to the server allowing for custom configurations. However, in the words of Stan Lee, with great power comes great responsibility… meaning that virtual private servers require more extensive technical knowledge and often with more access website hosting companies provide less support
Dedicated Server:
This type of website hosting package allows a person to use an entire server to themselves. Website with high traffic or that require a large amount of system resources to run (think streaming video) often require a dedicated server.
Email address:
Some website hosting packages will limit the amount of email address available for your domain name. Keep this in mind when determining the correct package. If you think you will need an email address for everyone employee or everyone in your family be certain the website hosting package allows this number of different addresses.
Apache:
This is the program used to serve webpages on a UNIX/Linux platform. Chance are access to the apache program will be limited by the security protection on your shared website hosting platform.
IIS:
This is the program used to serve webpages on a Windows 2003/2008 platform. If any of your program requirement ask to modify IIS permission you should sign up on a Windows website hosting platform.