(A) record

Host (A) record.

Absolute value

The actual numerical value of a quantity.

ACE

Short for ASCII-compatible encoding. The sequence of ASCII characters prefixed by xn-- that represents an internationalized domain name in its equivalent ASCII character set.

Action Log

A detailed history of all actions executed on a system.

Administrator

A user that has the login privileges required for access to a control panel.

Alias (CNAME) record

A record that maps one host name to another. The target host does not have to be within a local domain.

Alias (email)

A method of mapping a nickname to an actual email address. You can map aliases to mailboxes on your site's mail server, email addresses and other aliases.

Alias (file system)

An alias enables you to store files or documents within the local file system of the site instead of the document root. This is useful when you want to isolate a process or content and avert resource integrity violation by other virtual hosts on the server.

Alias (script)

A script alias allows CGI scripts to be stored within the local file system of the site other than under the document root of the subdomain. For example if the cgi scripts are aliased to /usr/web/cgi-bin/, instead of the default /cgi-bin/, then a request for http://myscript/cgi-bin/search will run the script from /usr/web/cgi-bin/search. A script alias enables you to secure the integrity of script resources from other hosts on the server.

Allocate

To assign resources for a specific task. This is often used to refer to memory use, disk space, bandwidth, or process cycles.

Analog Web/FTP Log Analyzer

A program that compiles statistics about which Web pages are most popular, which countries people are visiting from, which Web site visitors tried to follow broken links from, and other such information.

Anonymous FTP

A method by which files can be transferred over the Internet through FTP (File Transfer Protocol) without the use of a password or the creation of a user account.

Apache Web Server

The Apache Web Server answers requests from browsers, retrieves a requested file or executes a CGI script, and returns the document or script results.

Application

A general term used to describe software components.

ASCII-compatible encoding

See ACE.

Autoresponder

A mail utility that automatically sends a standard reply message to an email message. Same as responder.

Autostart

A system utility that starts applications automatically at system startup.

Bandwidth Quota

The amount of transmission capacity assigned to a user or site.

Bandwidth

The transmission capacity of a network or computer system. For sites, this includes the amount of data your site's Web server can transfer to and receive from other servers on the network over a given period of time.

cgi-bin

The directory on a Web server where CGI scripts are typically stored.

CGI script

A small program written in a language such as Perl, TCL, C, or C++ that functions between HTML pages and other programs on Web servers. A CGI script might allow search data to be entered on a Web page and sent to a database management system for lookup, then formatted and returned to a user as results.

Command Line Interface

A user interface through which commands can be sent to the control panel server using a command line rather than the graphical user interface. The Command Line Interface also allows the use of scripts for automating and streamlining many tasks.

Common Gateway Interface (CGI)

A set of rules describing how a Web server should communicate with another application running on the same computer, and in reverse. Any program can be a CGI program if it can handle input and output according to the CGI standard.

CPU Quota

The percentage of central processor unit time assigned to a user or a server.

Cron

A UNIX utility that runs a set of commands, contained in a special file, at a scheduled date and time. A cron job normally runs backup or other maintenance or background processes.

Custom Log

A log file that contains information from Internet browsers accessing a Web site. Whenever a visitor accesses a Web site, information about the visitor and the nature of the visit is recorded in this log file.

Delimiter

A character marking the beginning or end of a unit of data.

Delta value

The percentage of change in a quantity.

Deployment

The systematic distribution of an object.

Directory

A simulated file folder on a computer disk. Files and applications are typically stored in directories on computer systems.

Disk Quota

The amount of disk space, in megabytes, assigned to a user.

Document Root

The Document Root identifies the location from where the Web server will serve content to the browser. Content resources for a domain are located in the document root of the subdomain. For example, if your domain files are placed in the document root - /usr/web, then a request for http://www.sales.abc1.com/index.html will actually be sourced from the path - /usr/web/index.html

Domain Name Server

The server that translates domain names into IP addresses.

Domain Name System (DNS) Server

A computer that maintains a database of domain names and their corresponding IP addresses.

Domain Name System (DNS)

Name resolution software that translates alphabetic domain names into numeric IP addresses. The DNS server maintains a database of domain names and their corresponding IP addresses.

Domain name

An alphabetic name that identifies one or more IP addresses.

Domain

An Internet address or a subsection of the Internet.

Drag-and-drop

In graphical user interfaces, the act of using the mouse to move an icon or an object into a window or onto another icon or object.

Email alias

A nickname mapped to one or more real email addresses. Aliases are commonly used for email distribution lists and for delivering the same email message to more than one email address at once.

Error Log

A log file that contains information about errors encountered by visitors accessing a Web site, or information about problems with the Web server.

Export

To copy data files and configuration files from one location to another location or FTP server to preserve usable copies in case of system failure. See also import.

File sharing

In a network, the sharing of computer data or space by several users whose access privileges might vary.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

A protocol used to transfer files over the Internet. FTP includes functions to log on to the network, list directories, and copy files. FTP operations can be performed by typing commands in a command line or by using an FTP utility running under a graphical interface. Anonymous FTP allows you to use an FTP site without a password and without creating a user account.

Filter

A pattern or mask through which only selected data is passed. Common filters include spam filters, which block email sent from specified sites.

Firewall

A method for keeping a network secure.

Forward Message

Redirecting (or forwarding) your email messages from one mailbox to another. When you create a Forward on your email account, your email messages can be redirected to another location without the sender knowing the new address.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

A protocol used to transfer files over the Internet. FTP includes functions to log on to the network, list directories, and copy files. FTP operations can be performed by typing commands in a command line or by using an FTP utility running under a graphical interface. Anonymous FTP allows you to use an FTP site without a password and without creating a user account.

Gateway

In networking, a combination of hardware and software that links two different types of networks or applications.

Graphical user interface (GUI)

An interface between a user and a computer that is graphics-based and incorporates icons, menus, and a mouse.

Group

A logical division of users on a domain, for example, the Sales group. Also, the association that determines a user’s login privileges, for example, the super user group.

Home directory

The directory assigned to a system user at login; the directory a user starts out in.

Host (A) record

An IP address for forward mapping (host-name-to-IP-address). The opposite is reverse mapping, using a Pointer (PTR) record.

Host name

The name assigned to a computer.

HT user account

HT user accounts (HT is derived from hypertext ), give users access to password-protected directories on the Web server. You manage HT user accounts through the Web server.

htaccess file

htaccess files (ht is derived from hypertext ) contain information about the authorization name for password-protected directories and the names of the groups who are allowed to access files contained within this directory.

IDN

Short for internationalized domain name. A domain name represented in local language (non-ASCII) characters, for example, http://www.färgbolaget.nu.

IIS FTP Server

A part of the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) that manages FTP servers. IIS is available on the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating environment.

IIS Web Server

A part of the Microsoft IIS that manages Web servers. IIS is available on the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating environment, and implements Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 3.0.

Import

To completely or partially return your system to a previous file configuration state by uploading exported files from an archive.

Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) mail server

A common mail server used for Internet email, similar to POP3, but in addition to holding incoming email messages until a user logs in to the email account and downloads the messages, it allows users to archive email messages into folders, share mailboxes with other users, access multiple mail servers at once, and more efficiently access mail attachments.

Internet Protocol (IP)

The protocol used to format packets and rules of transmission and reception over the Internet.

IP-based site

A site with a unique IP address.

IP address

The numeric identifier of a computer or device on the Internet. The format of an IP address is a 32-bit numeric address written as four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255.

Kickstart Image

The information required to install an operating system onto a server. Images are files that contain information about a server, such as its passwords and network settings, as well as operating system data.

Kickstart

A method that allows for a clean installation of an operating system onto a server.

License

An official agreement between a user and a corporation on the use and support of its products.

Logrotate

A utility that simplifies administration of large log files. When log files reach a set threshold, Logrotate automatically compresses the log data, archives it in the same directory and populates the empty log file with fresh log data. Logs are thus rotated in this manner so that available disk space is not swamped.

Mail Exchanger (MX) Record

A record that includes information about external mail servers.

Majordomo

The mailing list server application.

Max Processes

The maximum number of simultaneous processes that can run on a domain or server.

Max Users

The maximum number of simultaneous users on a site or server.

Memory Quota

The amount of memory assigned to a user.

Menu Bar

A row of menu options on a user interface.

Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions

A service that allows you to support users who want to use Microsoft FrontPage to manage their Web sites.

Miva Merchant

A service that provides e-commerce support for sites.

mod_perl for Apache

A service that enables you to process and write CGI scripts.

MySQL Database Server

A widely used relational database management system for SQL databases. A database management system allows you to add, access, and process data stored in an SQL database. A relational database stores data in related tables.

MySQL Database

A service that allows you to work with SQL databases.

Name-based site

A site with a unique host name but shares an IP address with another server.

Name Server (NS) Record

A record that specifies the host name of the DNS server managing the sub-domains hosted on a site.

Netmask

A bit-mask that identifies the network number and host number components of an IP-Address.

Network Quota

The amount of network resources dedicated to a server.

Network Time Protocol (NTP) server

A computer using NTP to broadcast accurate information about time.

Network Time Protocol (NTP)

A method used to send information over the Internet to synchronize the time of computer clients or servers with that of an accurate server or time source.

Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC)

A standard database access method developed by Microsoft Corporation that allows you to access and modify data from any application, regardless of which database management system is handling the data.

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)

A manufacturer that sells equipment to a reseller for rebranding or repackaging. Also, when a reseller adds value to the product before reselling it, private labels the merchandise under its own name, or bundles it with its own products.

Path

The route to a file on a disk. For example, if a file called index.html is located in a subfolder called html, and the html subfolder is located in folder called www, the path to index.html is: /www/html/index.html.

PHP Hypertext Preprocessor for Apache

A service used to process dynamic Web pages. PHP (PHP Hypertext Preprocessor) is a server-side, cross-platform, HTML embedded scripting language. Because it is compatible with networks using IMAP, SNMP, NNTP, POP3, or HTTP, it can easily manage dynamic Web page content.

PHP MyAdmin Web Based MySQL Administration

A service used to manage SQL databases over the Internet. PHP MyAdmin can handle administering entire MySQL database servers or just a single database over the Internet by removing any platform-specific limitations.

Physical Server

A general term used to describe any tangible server.

Pointer Record (PTR)

A host name for reverse mapping (IP-address-to-host-name). The opposite is forward mapping, using a Host (A) record.

POP3 + IMAP Server

POP3 (Post Office Protocol, version 3) is a protocol used to retrieve e-mail from a mail server. IMAP (Internet Messaging Access Protocol) is a protocol that retrieves messages from the mail server. Using IMAP, you can search through your email messages using keywords and selectively download messages. The IMAP server allows users to archive email messages in folders, share mailboxes with other users, access multiple mail servers at one time, and more efficiently access email attachments.

Post Office Protocol, version 3 (POP3) mail server

A common mail server used for Internet email. It holds the incoming email messages until you log on to the email account and download the messages. All stored email messages and attachments are downloaded at the same time.

Primary Name Server

The main Domain Name System (DNS) server that translates alphabetic domain names into numeric IP addresses.

Process Quota

The number of processes a user can run simultaneously on a server. This number is based on the Service Level Agreement.

Properties

Settings that determine the characteristics of an account or a server.

Punycode

See ACE.

Python

A service used to write system utility programs and scripts. Python is a popular, object-oriented, interpretive scripting language used for writing system utilities and Internet scripts.

Quality Of Service (QoS)

The ability to define a level of performance. QoS is enforced on all applications or scripts that run external to the Web browser (such as CGI and ASP scripts), but not on static HTML pages. The Default Plan is populated with the recommended QoS values; therefore, any site created using an unchanged Default Plan template is assigned this combination.

Queue

A temporary holding place for data.

Record

A record contains specific DNS zone information.

Register

To identify and associate a product with a company.

Responder

A mail utility that automatically sends a standard reply message to an email message. Same as autoresponder.

Reverse Domain Name System (Reverse DNS)

Name resolution software that looks up an IP address to obtain a domain name. It performs the opposite function of the DNS server, which turns names into IP addresses.

Scheduled export

Moving or copying data files and configuration files on your server to a local system or FTP server at specified times.

Script alias

A script alias allows CGI scripts to be stored within the local file system of the site other than under the document root of the subdomain. For example if the cgi scripts are aliased to /usr/web/cgi-bin/, instead of the default /cgi-bin/, then a request for http://myscript/cgi-bin/search will run the script from /usr/web/cgi-bin/search. A script alias is a valuable feature that enables you to secure the integrity of script resources from other hosts on the server.

Secondary Name Server

The backup Domain Name System (DNS) server that translates alphabetic domain names into numeric IP addresses.

Secure Socket Layer (SSL)

An Internet security protocol that encrypts data when it is transferred over the Internet. Enabling SSL allows you to transfer data securely between your Web server and your visitor's Internet browser.

Sendmail Server

An SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) mail server that routes SMTP email messages through the Internet to be stored on a mail server, such as POP3 or IMAP. SMTP is the most widely used email protocol on the Internet.

Serial Terminal

A computer used to connect a modem, mouse, scanner, or other serial device using the computer's serial interface.

Server-Side Include (SSI)

A type of HTML comment that directs the Web server to dynamically generate data for the Web page whenever it is requested. An SSI includes a special sequence of characters (tokens) on an HTML page. As the page is sent from the HTTP server to the requesting client, the page is scanned by the server for these special tokens. When a token is found, the server interprets the data in the token and performs an action based on the token data.

Server

A computer and other device that allocates and manages the sharing of resources for a network. A server provides information or other services to its clients. While a server usually refers to an entire machine, it can also refer to a particular daemon on that machine.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

A contract between the provider and the user that specifies the level of service that is expected during its term.

Service Plan

A template that defines the default resource assignments and service offerings to be applied when creating new sites.

Service provider

The organization that enables hosting services for a site.

Service

A single client or service that can be installed on a server.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

The most widely used email protocol on the Internet.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

A network management protocol used for configuring and monitoring devices on IP networks.

Site (Web site)

Web sites are servers connected to the Internet. On Web sites, you can publish Web pages in a format called HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). Anyone with a computer connected to the Internet can view Web pages using programs called a browsers, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or AOL/Netscape Navigator. Web sites can also be used to send and receive email.

Site Administrator

The user that has the login privileges required for accessing the Site Administrator control panel. Sites have only one Site Administrator.

Site reports

Page request statistics about your IIS Web or FTP server.

Spam filter

Spam filters are settings that enable your mail server to block email originating from the sites you specify.

Spam

Unsolicited or junk email messages.

Specification File

A file that contains details about an object.

SquirrelMail

An email client that uses IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) to provide you access to your email messages directly on the Internet.

SSH Secure Shell

A service that provides secure remote access to a system over a network.

SSL Secure Web

A service used to secure Web pages.

Start Of Authority (SOA) Record

A record that indicates where the DNS zone starts, and specifies timing information for zone transfers. Zone transfers send lookup data from the primary name server to the secondary name server.

Subdomain

A smaller component of a root domain name.

Subnet mask

The method used for splitting IP networks into a series of subgroups. The mask is a binary pattern that is matched up with the IP address to turn part of the host IP address field into a field for subnets.

Symbolic link

Symbolic links are shortcuts that are usually placed in top-level directories to provide quick access to directories and files that lie deeper in the directory structure. Symbolic links are represented by grayed out icons.

System Console

A terminal used to monitor and control a computer or network.

Telnet

A common terminal emulation protocol that connects computers locally or across the Internet. It allows a user at a local computer to log on to a remote computer and run a program.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

The address that defines the route to a file on the Web or any other Internet facility. The URL contains the protocol prefix, port number, domain name, sub-directory names,and file name.

Upgrade

A software patch that replaces existing software with a newer version.

User Administrator

Users who have login privileges required for access to the User Administrator control panel. Sites can have many User Administrators.

User

A person who has an account or a user name on a site, for example, Bob234.

Vacation Message

A mail utility that automatically sends a standard reply message to an email message.

Virtual Site

An emulated site that includes a DNS domain with Web, FTP, and email capabilities. Each virtual site contains its own list of site user accounts. Each user account has its own set of Web and email services that can be managed by the virtual user.

Web server

A server that responds to requests from the Web browser. Your site's Web server is an Apache Web Server. It answers requests from browsers, retrieves a requested file or executes a CGI script, and returns the document or script results.

Webalizer

A free log file analysis application. Webalizer generates highly detailed usage statistics for Web and FTP servers in easily comprehensible graphical and tabular formats. The logs generated are a statistical encapsulation of user traffic on your server.

Wrapper

A data structure or software that contains (that is, “wraps around”) other data or software, so that the contained elements can exist in the newer system.

Zone

A unit of domain name space managed by one DNS server.