| |
WEB SITE HOSTING often uses its
own language, or languages, comprised of
acronyms, proprietary names and terms that
have been granted new meanings. For some
it's a first language. For others it's an
entirely new language. This abridged
glossary is designed to assist in
"translating" the more common hosting terms
into more common language.
APACHE
One of the world's most popular Web server
programs, Apache was built by a
group of open-source programmers and is
often used because of its
outstanding performance, strong security
features and the fact that it is
free.
APPLICATION
INFRASTRUCTURE
The software components that your custom
application relies on for its
functionality. Examples include web servers,
application servers and
database servers.
BANDWIDTH
The amount of data that can be transmitted
at a given moment to a server.
The higher your bandwidth, the larger amount
of traffic your site can handle
at one time.
CGI
Short for Common Gateway Interface, a small
script that processes data taken
from the user (such as from a form
application).
CGI_BIN
The directory on a web server where CGI
scripts are stored.
DDOS
Short for Distributed Denial of Service
Attack, the most common form of
attack on network devices. It overwhelms a
network by monopolizing its
bandwidth by flooding it with information
from multiple hosts, thereby
preventing legitimate network traffic.
DEVICE
Refers to the individual hardware components
that make up a unique hosted
configuration. This includes servers,
firewalls and load balancers.
FIREWALL
A piece of security software or hardware
designed to protect web servers.
They are typically used to protect sites
from hacker attacks/unauthorized
access. |
|
|
| |
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).
IDS
Short for Intrusion Detection System, it
recognizes all types of hostile
network traffic and computer usage that
can't be detected by a conventional
firewall.
IIS
Short for Internet Information Server,
Microsoft's server software for
Windows NT/2000.
IP
Short for Internet Protocol, which
designates the format of "data packets"
that are used to exchange information over
the Internet.
J2EE
Short for Java 2 Platform, Enterprise
Edition, J2EE is a programming
platform for developing and running
distributed multi-tier architecture
applications, based largely on modular
components running on an application
server.
LAMP
An acronym for a set of free software
programs commonly used together to run
dynamic Web sites:
Linux, the operating system;
Apache, the web server;
MySQL, the database management system (or
database server);
Perl, PHP, and/or Python, scripting
languages.
LOAD BALANCING
Distributing data across a network of
servers in order to ensure that a
single Web server does not get overloaded
with work, thereby affecting
performance.
MANAGED BACK UP
Refers to the copying of data for the
purpose of having an additional copy
of an original source, specifically storing
data on separate tape media not
located on the server. If the original data
is damaged or lost, the data may
be copied back from that source.
NAME SERVER
A server responsible for translating domain
names and IP addresses.
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.
|
PACKET SWITCHING
The method by which most data is exchanged
throughout the Internet. Most
data is broken down in to smaller "packets"
prior to transfer, and then
reassembled at the destination.
RAID
Short for Redundant Array of Independent
Disks, a method of data
protection/backup. Data is stored over a
number of servers so that
information will still be accessible if a
piece of hardware/software
crashes.
SAN
Short for Storage Area Network, a network
designed to attach computer
storage devices such as disk array
controllers and tape libraries to
servers. In a storage network, a server
issues a request for specific
blocks, or data segments, from specific disk
drives. This method is known as
block storage. The device acts in a similar
fashion to an internal drive,
accessing the specified block, and sending
the response across the network.
SCALABILITY
The ability of a piece of software or
hardware to expand/grow as necessary.
SERVICE LEVEL
AGREEMENT (SLA)
A formal written agreement made between two
parties: the service provider
and the service recipient. The SLA itself
defines the basis of understanding
between the two parties for delivery of the
service itself. The document can
be quite complex, and sometimes underpins a
formal contract. Generally, an
SLA should contain clauses that define a
specified level of service, support
options, incentive awards for service levels
exceeded and/or penalty
provisions for services not provided.
SQL
Short for Standard Query Language. A
standard protocol used to request
information from databases. Servers that 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
addresses usually begin with
'https'.
VPN
Short for Virtual Private Network, a private
communications network usually
used within a company, or by several
different companies, to communicate
over a public network.
WEB HOSTING
Web hosting is a service that allows users
to post web pages to the
Internet. A Web host, or hosting service
provider (HSP), is a business that
provides the technologies and services
needed for Web sites to be viewed on
the Web.
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.
|
|
|
