Web Host Jargon Explained: What It Means (And What’s Important)

If you’ve spent a little time visiting various websites for
hosting companies, you’ll probably have spotted a load of jargon that you might
not fully understand. Don’t worry – you are not alone. Web hosts usually have a
ton of technical information on their websites that help to explain the
variation in the hosting packages that they offer.

However, to the average person, a lot of the information is
meaningless. Do you think the average guy on the street is going to know the
meaning of 99% uptime, MySQL, autoresponders, add-on domains and lots of other
such terms? The answer is most likely no!

But, if you are looking for a web host for your website,
then you are going to need to descramble all of the jargon and understand what
it refers to. In this article, you’ll find explanations of some of the most
common web hosting jargon so that the next time you find yourself on the
website of a host, you’ll have a clearer picture of what their hosting packages
entail.

Understanding The Basics

In this section you’ll learn about the basic phrases and
words that are used by every web host around the world. Some of them will be
obvious, but others may be a little more technical.

Disc Space

This is usually the first thing you’ll see featured on all
of the hosting packages that a web host has to offer. It refers to the amount
of space on the server that you will be allocated in order to store all of the
files for your website. These files include everything from images, HTML, CSS
and JavaScript (these are all the things that make up a website). Different web
hosts will offer hosting accounts with different amounts of disc space. Some
may limit an account to 1GB of space, which to be honest, is more than enough
for the average user. Other hosts may offer unlimited disc space.

Data Transfer / Bandwidth

This is another feature that all hosts will include in the
specs of their hosting accounts. This refers to the amount of data that is
transferred to and from your part of the server where your site is being
hosted. Each time someone visits your website, they are using part of your
allocated bandwidth. As with disc space, you’ll find some hosts that offer a
fixed amount of bandwidth, while others will offer you an unlimited amount. If
you visit
fortunelords.com, you can compare various web hosts to see who
has the best options for data transfer and disc space.

Shared Hosting

This is a type of hosting package that all web hosts will
offer. It is basically hosting on a server that is shared with other clients,
all of whom are sharing the server resources such as RAM and CPU. Most hosts
will have an option of different shared hosting packages with limits on the
disc space, bandwidth and the number of domains you can add to your account. If
you are running a single website, then you’ll only need 1 add-on domain, but if
you plan on running more, you’ll need the package with a higher allowance.

Cloud Hosting

This is a type of hosting, similar in concept to shared
hosting, but where your data is stored virtually in the cloud, rather than on a
physical server. There are a number of benefits to cloud hosting,
such as the ability to easily scale resources, better protection from hardware
issues and in some cases, a much better speed and performance for your
websites.

Dedicated Server

This is the top end of web hosting, where you have an entire
server all to yourself. You won’t be sharing any of the resources with other
users. The server is yours, and it can be customized to your specific
requirements. There are lots of different options for dedicated servers, so if
you think you are going to need this for your hosting solution, speak to the
host and let them know about your needs.

Uptime

This relates to the amount of time
that the server is running without any interruptions. Most web hosts have an
uptime of at least 99.9%, which basically means that there is only a very small
chance that your website will be offline for a short period during any given
month. If downtime does occur, then it will most likely only be for a few
minutes, and you probably wouldn’t even be aware of it.

Email Hosting

As the name suggests, this is hosting for your email. Well
in a sense, this is true. It is more of a solution where your email accounts
for your business or organization are hosted on servers and your email data is
stored on the server instead of files for your website.

cPanel

This is a hosting management program that the majority of
web hosts around the world use on their servers. It is a very easy to use
system and one that makes managing your hosting account a breeze. You won’t
need to worry about knowing any specific commands or code. Everything is
controlled through an innovative control panel, where you can easily add new
domain names, set up email accounts and even install additional software for
your website.

CMS / Content Management System

Many people use a content management system for their website. The most famous is WordPress, which is used by millions of users all around the world. It’s a website builder that has hundreds of options and can be used to create all types of sites. Whether you want a simple website about your pet cat, or you want to build an E-Commerce site selling products or services, WordPress has the capability to do everything you need. Many hosts support WordPress hosting, and a number of them have tools on their hosting packages where you can create a brand new WordPress website with just a couple of clicks.

Nameservers

A nameserver is literally an address which you use to point
your domain name to the server that is hosting your website. Most web hosts use
two different nameservers
in the form of “ns1.yourhost.com” and “ns2.yourhost.com”. You will need to
enter these at your domain registrar so that the domain will connect with the
server. Your host will provide you with the name servers you need to use, and
in some cases, will allow you to create custom name servers to use such as
“ns1.yourdomain.com”.