New to web hosting? This glossary defines the most common terms you'll encounter when shopping for and managing web hosting services.
- Bandwidth
- The amount of data that can be transferred between your website and visitors in a given time period (usually one month). See our bandwidth guide for more details.
- cPanel
- The most popular web hosting control panel. Provides a graphical interface for managing hosting account features like email, databases, file management, and more.
- Dedicated Server
- A hosting arrangement where an entire physical server is dedicated to a single customer's website(s). Provides maximum performance and control.
- DNS (Domain Name System)
- The system that translates human-readable domain names (like example.com) into IP addresses that computers use to identify each other on the network.
- Domain Name
- The unique address of a website on the internet (e.g., thehoststop.com). Registered through a domain registrar for an annual fee.
- FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
- A standard network protocol used to transfer files between a computer and a web server. Used to upload website files to your hosting account.
- MySQL
- The most popular open-source relational database management system used with web hosting. Powers WordPress, Joomla, and thousands of other web applications.
- PHP
- A popular server-side scripting language used to create dynamic web pages. Required by WordPress and many other web applications.
- Shared Hosting
- A hosting arrangement where multiple websites share the resources of a single server. The most affordable hosting option, suitable for most small to medium websites.
- SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
- A security technology that encrypts data transmitted between a web server and a browser. Sites with SSL show "https://" in their URL and display a padlock icon.
- Uptime
- The percentage of time that a web server is operational and accessible. Most hosts guarantee 99.9% uptime, which equals less than 9 hours of downtime per year.
- VPS (Virtual Private Server)
- A virtual machine that runs its own operating system and has dedicated resources within a shared physical server. A middle ground between shared and dedicated hosting.
- WHM (Web Host Manager)
- A control panel used by resellers and hosting administrators to manage multiple cPanel accounts from a single interface.
- Nameserver
- A server that translates domain names into IP addresses. When you register a domain and set up hosting, you point your domain to your host's nameservers.
- IP Address
- A numerical label (e.g., 192.168.1.1) assigned to each device connected to the internet. Websites are identified by IP addresses; domain names make them human-readable.