Active Server Page (ASP) An Active Server Page (ASP) is an HTML page that includes one or more scripts (small embedded programs) that are processed on a Microsoft Web server before the page is sent to the user. An ASP is somewhat similar to a server-side include or a common gateway interface (CGI) application in that all involve programs that run on the server, usually tailoring a page for the user. Typically, the script in the Web page at the server uses input received as the result of the user's request for the page to access data from a database and then builds or customizes the page on the fly before sending it to the requestor.

ActiveX Controls An ActiveX control is an object that supports a customizable, programmatic interface. Using the methods, events, and properties exposed by a control, Web authors can automate their HTML pages. Examples of ActiveX Controls include text boxes, command buttons, audio players, video players, stock tickers, and so on.

Aliased Nameservers Aliasing your nameserver allows you to keep your primary hosting provider transparent. By running "whois" queries on your domain name, a client can often detect that you are reselling services. Therefore, many hosting companies provide to resellers the option of aliased nameservers.

Apache Apache is Unix-based, open-source Web server that is used to host about half the sites on the Internet. Originally, Apache was a Unix product, but now versions for Windows, OS/2 and other platforms exist. As with most open-source projects, there are numerous add-ons and tailored versions of the server available, which are created using the Apache module API. The name comes from its origins as a series of "patch files."

Application Service Provider A third party that manages software applications for servers and networks.

Bandwidth (Data Transfer) Bandwidth or data transfer is the measure of the traffic generated from your website. It is measured in bytes, kilo bytes (KB), mega bytes (MB) or giga bytes (GB). If a website delivers 100,000 pages each month with average page file size of 20 KB, the bandwidth per month will be 2 GB. Almost 80% of websites on the internet uses less than 5 GB of bandwidth per month.

CGI This is a directory on the webserver space where the CGI (Common Gateway Interface) executable code is placed. The CGI bin directory is kept secure from the internet users by allowing specific permission, so that malicious user or hacker cannot run any program by accessing that directory.

Control Panel A control panel helps a webmaster to easily access the settings, tools, utilities provided by the web host via a user friendly interface. With the click of a mouse, he can administer the web space, domain names, e-mail accounts, directories, cgi-bin (program script storage area) and all the special features offered, including site statistics and shopping carts.

Cgi-bin The directory on a Web server where CGI scripts are stored.

Co-located hosting This hosting option gives webmasters complete control over their server. You are responsible for providing the physical hardware and network administration; the hosting company will provide you with the rack space and Internet connection.

Cookie A web server can send "cookie" information down to a web browser, which will then supply that information back to the server along with each subsequent request. Some end users disable this feature of their web browsers. WebSTAR logs cookie information when the "CS(COOKIE)" token is included.

Dedicated hosting This type of hosting allows a webmaster to rent an entire server. This server is not shared with anybody. This is more flexible than shared hosting (see below), as webmasters have full control over the server, including choice of operating system, hardware, etc.

Diesel Generator A diesel-powered generator used by hosting companies as a back-up source to generate electricity in the event of a power outage.

Domain names Domain names are the word sequences users enter in their URL bar to visit your site. They are attached to a DNS, short for Domain Naming System, which is used to translate numeric addresses (known as IP, or Internet Protocol, addresses) into words. Each site you visit on the net has a numeric IP address behind its name.

Firewall A piece of security software designed to protect Web servers. They are typically used to protect sites from hacker attacks/unauthorized access.

Flash A popular piece of animation software developed by Macromedia. Flash is widely used on the Web because it requires little bandwidth, therefore making it friendly to users with low or high-speed connections.

FrontPage A popular site design and management tool developed by Microsoft.

FTP Short for File Transfer Protocol, a method of allowing remote users and Web servers to exchange files.

HTML Short for HyperText Markup Language, the language by which Web servers and client browsers communicate. All server-side functions (such as database processing), although they may be performed in another language, must eventually be output back to the user in HTML.

HTTP Stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol, the protocol by which HTML files move across the Internet. HTTP requires a client browser and an HTTP server (typically a Web server).

IIS Short for Internet Information Server, Microsoft's server software for Windows NT/2000.

Intranet A vast internal network structured in a fashion similar to the Internet. Intranets are usually established by large corporate organizations to improve communication. The main difference between the Internet and an intranet is that access to intranets are restricted to authorized members only.

IP Short for Internet Protocol, which designates the format of "data packets" that are used to exchange information over the Internet.

IRC Short for Internet Relay Chat, a popular text-base multi-user chat network.

Load Balancing The process by which load (number of requests, number of users, etc.) is spread throughout a network so that no individual device becomes overwhelmed by too much traffic, causing it to fail. Load balancing also involves redirection in the case of server or device failure to allow for Failover and promote Fault tolerance.

Managed hosting An expanded dedicated hosting service where the web host will manage your dedicated server for you.

MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. A protocol for Internet e-mail that enables the transmission of non-text data such as graphics, audio, video and other binary types of files.

Mirror sites Mirror sites are duplicate copies of web sites or web pages. Found on different servers, often the mirror site will lead the visitor to the originating website.

Name server A host that provides name resolution for a network. Name servers translate symbolic names assigned to networks and hosts into the efficient Internet addresses used by machines.

Newsgroup A USENET discussion group (see below).

NOC Short for Network Operations Center, a hosting company's "home base," so to speak. The NOC is usually where most administration, technical support and physical server storage takes place. For more information, please refer to our article, Inside the NOC, here.

OC Short for Optical Carrier, representing the speed of fiber-optic networks. OC speeds can range anywhere between 1 and 48. Most hosting companies have OC3 connections, which allows for the transfer of data at a rate of up to 155.52 Mbps.

Packet switching Data transmission method that divides messages into standard-sized packets for greater efficiency of routing and transport through a network.

Parking Term used for temporarily placing a record in a name server for later use. Many registrars while park your domain at no cost until you are ready to build a web site.

POP Short for Post Office Protocol. An e-mail protocol that mail software such as Eudora use to communicate with mail servers.

Propagation The process of updating a domain across the world's Internet servers. Propagation can take between two to three days.

RAID Acronym for redundant array of independent disks or redundant array of inexpensive disks. RAID is a performance enhancing method of storing the same data in different places on multiple hard disks.

Reseller A person who is authorized to sell someone else's goods and/or services.

Scalability The ability of a software program to continue to function smoothly as additional volume, or work is required of it.

Shared hosting Hosting service that allows you to effectively manage your site by sharing server space with other clients allowing for a lower cost of service.

Shopping cart Software that operates on an online storefront. The "shopping cart" keeps track of all the items that a buyer wants to purchase, allowing the shopper to pay for the whole order at once.

SMTP Short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, a protocol used by mail servers to exchange messages with each other.

SQL Short for Standard Query Language. A standard protocol used to request information from databases. Servers which can handle SQL are known as SQL servers.

SSL Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape to handle and protect confidential/sensitive information required for e-commerce transactions (like credit card numbers). SSL address usually begin with 'https'.

Subdomain Typically known as a "domain within a domain", subdomains are individual Web addresses built upon a pre-existing domain name (such as clientname.yourhostingcompany.com). As a reseller, you will have the option of assigning subdomains to clients if they do not choose to have a domain name.

T1 Connection A phone or data connection that can support the transfer of up to 1.544Mbits of data per second. T1 connections are popular among businesses and ISPs. Most T1s are connected to T3, which can handle up to 43Mbits per second and are actual Internet backbone connections.

Tape back-up A popular and inexpensive way to back up Web sites. Contents of a site are periodically stored that looks similar to a cassette. Some cassettes can store several gigabytes.

Telnet A command-line interface that allows remote users and Web servers to communicate.

TCP Short for Transmission Control Protocol, an important network protocol. TCP allows two hosts to connect and exchange data, and ensures that "data packets" are delivered exactly as sent.

TLD Shot for Top Level Domain, the suffix for major domain names like .com, .net and .org.

UNIX A text-based, multitasking Operating System suitable for Web and network administration. Unix has spawned numerous popular spinoffs, including Linux and FreeBSD. Most Unix-based Operating Systems are open source, meaning the source code to the Operating System has been made freely available to the public for modification. Most Web hosting companies and resellers offer Unix-based hosting in some capacity or other.

USENET A network of thousands of discussion groups (known as newsgroups; see above) on the Internet.

UUENCODE Short for Unix to Unix Encoding, a method of converting images to ASCII (see above) text in order to be transferred over the Internet.

Virtual host A shared hosting solution, the most basic of hosting types. Numerous Web sites are shared on one server.

Virtualization A process/software designed to reduce server management costs through automation, while providing more control over service levels.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) A virtual private server utilizes a software platform that permits a hosting vendor to use a single dedicated server as multiple virtual machines. It allows multiple customers to share the expense of hardware and network connections, without sacrificing privacy, performance or preference. VPS is therefore considered one of the most sophisticated modes of automation available for provisioning small to mid-sized business web hosting.

WHOIS A central database which tracks all domain name/IP registrations.

Windows NT/2000 These are graphic-based, multitasking Operating Systems developed over the past few years by Microsoft. Both can act as standalone OS for personal computers/workstations, or can serve as an OS for a Web site/network. Most Web hosting companies and resellers offer Windows-based hosting in some capacity or other.

XML Short for Extensible Markup Language. XML is a language allowing developers to create their own markup tags. All XML tags are defined by the programmer, and can be interpreted differently in different applications. For example, the "" tag in HTML means Italics, but could mean anything in XML, depending on the function the developer assigns to it.