3D Secure
3D Secure is the name given to a protocol which adds an additional layer of security to customers paying by credit or debit card online. It is used for Visa or MasterCard transactions and works in a similar manner to a PIN number by allowing users to choose a password which they must enter during the transaction.

400 Error
400 errors are displayed when a web browser errors when requesting a page. There are several different error codes in the 400 - 499 range for a range of errors. The most common example is error 404 which is displayed when a requested web page is not found.

500 Error
500 errors are displayed when server errors are encountered. Each server error has a code between 500 - 599.

A Record
An A Record is a DNS record that allows you to point a domain name or subdomain towards a specific IP address, allowing you to host the services of that domain across a number of locations.

AAAA Record
AAAA records work in the same way as A records. However, rather than pointing a website towards an IPv4 IP address (213.171.111.2 for example), they will point a website towards an IPv6 address (such as : c32:2214:ff2a).

Access Database
Microsoft Access is a database application supplied with the Office suite. While Access databases are not designed for use over the web, it is possible to create a dynamic website with an Access database back-end. Because of the way the Access database is designed, they can cause issues on busier websites and MySQL or Microsoft SQL databases are recommended for website use.

Admin Contact
A domain name typically has up to three contacts. The Administrator Contact for a domain will be sent non-technical correspondence from the registry and must provide their authorisation before a domain name can be transferred.

ADSL
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)

Advanced Server Monitoring
Advanced Server Monitoring is a service available for dedicated or virtual servers. It allows a server administrator to monitor server resources (such as processor usage, memory, bandwidth, and hard disk space), monitor the ports in use, view website statistics, maintain databases in use on the server and more.

Ajax
Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) is a web development technique which uses a server-side scripting language (such as PHP, ASP, ASP.NET) and a client side language (JavaScript) to create interactive web applications. The technique uses JavaScript to retrieve information from the hosting server in the background, without the need to reload the entire page. Often the data is returned in XML format, although this is not a requirement and the data can be returned in any format.

Alias
An aliased domain will completely mimic the domain it is aliasing. Emails sent to the alias will be forwarded to the parent domain and any changes made to the parent domain will be mirrored in the alias.

Apache
Apache is the name of the HTTP Web Server used to host websites on Linux hosting environments. It is the most popular HTTP server in use in the world, and has been since April 1996.

API
An Application Programming Interface (API) allows interaction between two applications. Many websites now offer API's that allow external developers to write web pages or add-ons that can integrate with their services. For example, PayPal offer an API that lets a website integrate their payment gateway directly with PayPal's system to allow the processing of seamless transactions.

ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is a code used to encode data so it can be shared between different computers. Each character has an 8 bit code that represents it, so all computers and devices, regardless of manufacturer or operating system, can understand the information.

ASP
Active Server Pages (ASP) is a deprecated scripting language created by Microsoft. It was designed to create dynamic websites and has now been replaced with ASP.NET.

ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a web application framework from Microsoft. It allows web developers to build dynamic web sites, applications, and services.

Audio Streaming
The Uptime describes the period of time a service, such as a website, email, dedicated, or virtual server is available online.

Auth Code
An Authorisation Code, or Auth Code, is used during the transfer of certain domain names, such as .com and .net domains. During the transfer the Admin Contact is required to enter the code to authorise the transfer of the domain name to the new registrar.

Auto-responder
An autoresponder is a automated message that can be added to a mailbox to reply with a standard message whenever an email is received. These are commonly used to leave alternative contact details when the email recipient goes on holiday.

Backup
A backup is simply a copy of data to allow easy restoration in the event that the data is lost, due to accidental deletion or hardware or software failure. Backups are often scheduled to run on a regular basis, and the data should ideally be kept in a different location to the original data.

Bandwidth
The bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted along a channel at a given time, and is measured in bits per second.

Blocklist
A blocklist is a list of email addresses that SPAM filtering software will automatically block. These are used to prevent known SPAM or phishing scams from being received.

Blog
A Blog, or Web log, is a website that allows users to post articles, share opinions, and discuss topics. Many companies use these.

Broadband
Broadband is a general term used to describe fast Internet Access, such as DSL or ADSL.

Byte
A byte is equivalent to 8 bits of data, and is enough to store one character of digital information. For example, a text document that contains 100 characters would be 100 bytes in size.

Captcha
A Captcha (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) is a system devised for websites to ensure that forms are only submitted by humans and not by a computer. Most commonly these appear in the form of distorted letters in an image, that a computer cannot read but a human user can.

Carbon Copy (CC)
In email terms, a Carbon Copy (CC) is used to send the email to one or more recipients other than the main addressee.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a language used to lay out and display elements on an HTML page. They are used to style entire websites, because it is much easier to change the one CSS file than each individual HTML file within the site. CSS is also used for templates for popular 3rd party online software, such as Wordpress or Joomla, because the entire site layout and appearance can be changed instantly just by replacing the CSS files.

Catch-all Forwarder
A catch all forwarder is a mail forwarder that is designed to catch all email sent to addresses that don't exist on the domain name and forward them to an email address that does exist. They are becoming less common because they will catch all spam email sent to a domain name, regardless of whether or not the email address exists.

CGI
Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a programming language for use on the Internet. It has numerous uses, such as handling forms, sending contact emails, and retrieving data from a database.

CGI-bin
The CGI-bin is a folder on a webserver within which CGI scripts are stored and processed.

Chrome
Chrome is a free Web Browser from Google. It was originally released in September 2008, and is becoming popular due to it's customisable nature (with themes and add-ons to extend it's capabilities) and speed. Chrome was the first web browser to break with tradition and display page tabs above the window.

CNAME Record
Canonical Name records (CNAME for short), allow you to set up aliases of your domain name to point towards a canonical A record. This could be on your domain name, or on a separate domain name. You cannot point a CNAME record towards an IP address.

Command Line
The Command Line (also called the Command Prompt in Windows or Terminal in Mac OS) is a utility that allows the user to type commands to access certain applications. Several popular utilities are available to help diagnose network problems, such as Ping and Trace Route.

Command Promt
The Command Line (also called the Command Prompt in Windows or Terminal in Mac OS) is a utility that allows the user to type commands to access certain applications. Several popular utilities are available to help diagnose network problems, such as Ping and Trace Route.

Cron Job
Cron is a scheduler for Linux servers, and can be used to run a script at regular timed intervals.

Data Centre
A data centre is the room or rooms used to house computers, and associated equipment.

Database
A database is a store of easily accessible information. Very often websites connect to an SQL database which stores information on their products and allows easy categorisation and searching. Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL, and MySQL are all examples of databases.

Database Owner
The database owner is the user with full permission to manage the structure, data, users, and user permissions within a database.

Dedicated Server
A dedicated server is a web server which a customer leases entirely. It is not shared with any other customers, and there are usually no restrictions to it's use.

Disaster Recovery
Disaster recovery is a term used to describe the preperation of recovery of services in the event of a disruption or loss of data. Often this will involve regular backups and policies to govern the rapid restoration of the data should the need arise.

DNS
Domain Name System (DNS) is the organisation and assignment of domain names to allow computers to find the location of a service on the internet.

Domain
A zone on the internet identified by a domain name. A domain will contain many records. These records are held within the registry.

Domain Name
A domain name is essentially a signpost on the Internet. Almost every website you've ever been to, and every email you've ever composed, has used a domain name in its address. People register domain names in order to 'stake a claim' to a particular name - whether for business or personal reasons. Once a domain name is registered to a person or company, it is that person's to use exclusively as long as they continue to pay the yearly renewal fee and abide by the terms of use.

Domain Name Locking
This is a status of a domain name that ensures the domain cannot be transferred to another registrar. It is designed to be prevent unauthorised or accidental transfers occurring on a domain name. Before transferring a domain name, the domain needs to be "unlocked" ready for transfer. This unlocking can be requested from your domain provider (and can often be completed within your domain providers control panel).

Domain Name Privacy
When you register a domain name, certain ownership information is required by the registry responsible for allocating you a domain name. This information can be publicly accessible through "whois" searches. Domain privacy stops this information being publically viewable, allowing your details to remain private.

Domain Name Transfer
This is the process of moving the administration of a domain name from one registrar to another. Often so that a domain names registration and hosting can be administered by the same company. Transferring a domain name will not change the Registrant (Owner) of the domain name, only the company responsible to administering the domain name on your behalf.

Downtime
The Downtime describes the period of time a service, such as a website, email, dedicated, or virtual server is unavailable online. This could be due to

DRAC Card
The Dell DRAC card is a Keyboard, Video and Mouse (KVM) switch which is installed in dedicated servers. Users can connect to this card and view what would appear on the servers monitor. In addition to this it, you can also use keyboard and mouse controls as is you were sat at the server. As it operates at a hardware level it can be used to view and control your server even when the operating system is not running (during boot up for example).

Drupal
Drupal is a popular, free and open source Content Management system. Written in PHP, it uses a MySQL database to store content. Information on this software can be found at http://drupal.org

DSL
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) provides digital data transmission through a local telephone network. It requires a modem at the user's end to convert the signals between the local computer or network and the telephone line.

Dynamic Web Page
A dynamic web page stores website content elsewhere (typically on a database), this content is then retrieved based upon options that the use clicks. This is very useful for large sites where information may be duplicated. By adding this information into every page of your website you may have many pages containing the same information. By storing this dynamically you only need to update the information in one location and each page on your website that may store this information will be updated automatically.

E-Commerce
Electronic commerce (E Commerce) is the term used for taking buying or selling products or services online.

Email
Email is a message or communication sent electronically from one computer to another.

Email Forwarder
An email forwarder will automatically forward all email from one email address to another. It does not store this message or keep any records of the emails it forwards. It is useful if you have multiple email incoming email addresses, or have a range of alias email addresses that need to be maintained, you could forward shop@ralphsdomainname.com to s2ales@ralphsdomainname.com for example. The all emails sent to either email address will be visible when you connect to your sales@ralphsdomainname.com mailbox.

Email Software
(also known as an email client) Software on your local computer that is designed to connect to a mailbox to send and receive email. Many operating systems come complete with a pre-installed copy of an email client. Windows 7 ships with Windows Mail for example. Thunderbird (developed by the Mozilla foundation) remains the most popular free email client and is popular due to its security and ease of use.

eRic Card
The eRic card is a type of KVM card used that we use in our dedicated servers.

eShop
Electronic commerce (E Commerce) is the term used for taking buying or selling products or services online.

E-Commerce
eShop is an additional package that can be added to SiteBuilder, allowing you to manage and update products and services for sale on your website. It comes complete with a shopping cart and can be easily integrated with the Paypal payment gateway.

Exchange
Internet Protocol Configuration is a Windows utility that is used to display all devices on a network, and refresh configuration and DNS settings.

FAT
File Allocation Table (FAT) is a common file system architecture that is used to arrange files on hard disks, memory cards, floppy disks, digital cameras, and more.

FAT32
FAT32 is a successor to FAT. It was created to allow support for larger storage devices.

Favourite Icon (favicon)
The "favicon" is a 16x16 pixel icon image file for a website that is displayed in the address bar and alongside any bookmarks. Typically the file is called favicon.ico and is stored in the website root folder.

Firefox
Firefox is a popular web browser from the Mozilla community. The browser itself is open source and completely free to use. It has become popular due to it's highly customisable nature, with hundreds of themes and add-ons to extend it's capabilities.

Firewall
A firewall is an interface that sits between your computer and the wider network. This will only allow authorised traffic from the internet to your computer, or the other way around.

Flash
Adobe Flash is a plugin to web browsers that is used to provide multimedia to web pages. It supports animations, video, audio, and interactivity and includes it's own scripting language, called ActionScript. Flash is often used to create advertising banners on web pages, or for online games or movie web sites.

Forum
A forum is a website designed to facilitate discussion on a subject, or range of subjects. Forums can be open, or by invitation only and uncensored, or moderated, depending upon the moderators wishes.

Forwarder
A Mail Forwarder is used to create an email address that simply redirects mail to another address. They are commonly used to catch common spelling mistakes and forward mail to the correctly spelt email address.

Exchange
Internet Protocol Configuration is a Windows utility that is used to display all devices on a network, and refresh configuration and DNS settings.

Frontpage Extensions
A websiite authoring and publishing tool developed by Microsoft. Primarily for use on their NT server platform. While Microsoft no longer support the product a number of websites are still is use that have been created using this software.

FTP
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the method used for transferring files to a web hosting server. You can publish your web site with any FTP software.

FTP Software
FTP Software (sometimes called an FTP Client) is an application designed specifically to publish website files to a webserver using FTP. Some examples of FTP software include SmartFTP, CuteFTP, CyberDuck (for Mac OS). Some web design software, such as Dreamweaver, also has FTP capabilities built in to allow users to publish their websites once created.

FTP User
An FTP user can access their webserver using FTP Software and upload their website files. Different FTP users can have different permissions. For example, the master FTP account for the domain name can access and create folders and upload or delete files. It is also possible to create a user with only access to one or two folders, or a user that can only view files within those folders but not delete or upload.

Generic Top-Level (gTLD) Domain
A generic Top Level domain name has two features. Firstly, it is generic, which means that it does not match the domain name with a country. Top Level means that it is at the top of the "DNS tree". .com, .net, .org are examples of a Generic Top Level domain name, while .co.uk is an example of a second level country code domain name.

GIF
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is an image file format that has been in use since 1987. It is widely used on the Internet due to it's lossless data compression, and support for animations. GIF images can only support up to 256 colours, and also support transparency.

Gigabyte (GB)
A Gigabyte (GB) is a unit of information equivalent to 1000 megabytes or one billion bytes.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)
A Graphical user interface (GUI - Often pronounced goo-ie) is an interface that allows users to manupulate visual objects to carry out certain commands. Most operating systems come complete with a GUI built in. Microsoft Windows operating systems are named after their style of GUI (using a mouse to open and close windows), while Apple is also well known for the simple and intuitive GUI available on the Iphone and other apple products.

Home Page
The home page (also sometimes referred to as the index page) is the default landing page of a website. When customers first visit a domain name, they will not specify a particlar page to view. In these insnces they will be directed to the home page of the website. The hoome page usually contains an introduction to the website along with navigation to other specific pages.

Host Name
This is a text name given to a computer on a network. In home computing terms, this is often the computer name. For internet serviers this hostname needs to be unique and resolvable across the internet, so is provided a name as part of a fully qualified domain name (the mail server for ralphsdomainname.com may be called mail.ralphsdomainname.com for example).

Hosting
Space on a server specifically for website or email content.

htdocs
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is an information security standard which was created to help the payment card industry prevent credit card fraud. Organisations must comply with the standard if they process transactions or manage cardholder information for any supported credit card.

HTML
HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is the markup language used to create web pages. The language comprises of tags that determine what text and elements are displayed on a page. It also determines certain page properties, such as the title of the page that appears in the web browser, and keywords that are used by search engines.

HTTP
HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the protocol used for transferring information between a web server and a visitor's computer. The protocol was developed to provide standardisation, and ensure that different web servers, operating systems, and web browsers could all communicate successfully with each other.

HTTPS
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a protocol that allows a web browser to display secure websites that are protected by SSL.

ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN - Pronounced I-Can) is a non profit organisation set up in 1998 to manage the internets domain names system and IP address space. It governs the top level domain names and delegates power to other bodies who govern individual types of domain name.

ICMP
Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is a protocol that allows network administrators to troubleshoot and find communication errors on a network.

IMAP
Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP - Prounounced I-Map) is a method of viewing emails from a mailbox. Unlike POP

Index Page
Occasionally you find the home page of a Web site referred to as the index page and it is often stored in a file index.htm or index.html.

Inherit
inherit permissions from folder above

Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer is a free Web Browser from Microsoft. Originally bundled with Windows operating systems, it quickly became the dominant web browser on the market.

Internet Information Services (IIS)
Internet Information Services (IIS) is a web server created by Microsoft for Windows hosting servers. IIS is the Windows equivalent of Linux's Apache server.

Internet Service Provider (ISP)
An Internet Service Provider (ISP), sometimes referred to simply as an Internet Provider, is a company that provides access to the internet for it's customers.

IP Address
An address that uniquely identifies the location of a device on the Internet. Almost all companies currently use IPv4 IP addresses, although a new version, IPv6, has been developed as a successor.

IPConfig
Internet Protocol Configuration is a Windows utility that is used to display all devices on a network, and refresh configuration and DNS settings.

IPv4
Version 4 of the IP Address system that defines locations on the Internet. Version 4 is the most common version, and appears in the format 213.171.193.5.

IPv6
Version 6 of the IP Address system. This is the latest version and was designed to cope with the rapidly depleting numbers of free IPv4 IP addresses. IPv6 has not yet become widespread on the Internet.

ISO Image File
An ISO file contains a copy, also known as an image, of an optical disc, such as a CD. It's often used by CD burning software for making copies of discs. The file format itself is generic and was designed by the International Organisation for Standardization.

Java
Java is a programming language, which can be used to build software applications (such as OpenOffice) or web applications. Despite the name, Java is not related to JavaScript.

JavaScript
JavaScript is a scripting language used to add interactivity to website pages. It is not a server-side language, and instead is executed in the user's web browser. Despite the name, JavaScript is not related to Java.

Joomla
Joomla is an open source Content Management System (CMS), which is used to maintain and publish content to a website. It is free to use and can be extended with themes and extensions.

JPEG
JPEG is an image format named after the Joint Photographic Experts Group, who designed the file. It uses lossy compression to reduce the size of images, although as the compression is increased the image quality is reduced. Because of the compression method used transparency is not supported and JPEG images are best suited to photographs.

Junk email
unwanted e-mail (usually of a commercial nature sent out in bulk)

Kilobyte (KB)
A kilobyte (KB) is a unit of information equivalent to 1000 bytes.

KVM
A Keyboard-Video-Mouse (KVM) card is a hardware device that allows keyboard and mouse input, and display output, from a remote location to a server. The user can access their server via a Java console in their web browser. The main advantage of the KVM over Remote Desktop or SSH access to the server is that the operating system does not need to be loaded, allowing the user to access the BIOS settings. They can also use the KVM to install different operating systems on the server with relative ease.

Linux
Linux is the name given to an open source operating system. It is the leading operating system for web servers, and is also used on mobile phones, tables, games consoles, and other hardware. Versions designed for use as a web server generally do not use a Graphical User Interface, and instead use a command line driven interface, while desktop and mobile devices use a graphical interface that supports software such as Firefox, Thunderbird, and OpenOffice.

Load Balancing
This is the process of having identical information on two or more servers. Requests for information are spread across each of the servers, sharing the load across each of these servers rather than just one. This also adds redundancy, as if one server fails the other load balancing will serve requests.

Local Area Network (LAN)
A small computer network, usually a home or office network.

Log File
A log file is a text document where information is stored to allow analysis at a later time. For example, the log file on a web server records all events and any encountered errors, which allows the administrator to identify potential problems with the server.

Megabyte (MB)
A Megabyte (MB) is a unit of information equivalent to 1000 kilobytes or one million bytes.

Meta Tag
A meta tag is an HTML tag designed to provide information about a web page. The most common meta tags are "keywords" and "description", which are used to provide search keywords and a description of the page to search engines such as Google.

Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Exchange is a messaging system and is highly popular with corporations. Exchange mailboxes are designed to be collaborative, with users able to share folders, calendars, contacts and more with other Exchange users.

Microsoft SQL (MSSQL)
MS SQL is a relational database server developed by Microsoft. It uses Structured Query Language (SQL) to communicate with applications and search for data and is used in a number of applications.

MIME Type
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) were originally designed for use in email. Their usehas since expanded into many other protocols in use on the Internet. They are a group of specifications for formatting non ASCII characters so that they can be transmitted across the internet. Images for example, need to be broken down into a standard format, transmitted, and then assembled again correctly at their destination. In these instances a jpeg image could be transmitted by specifying the MIME type "image/jpeg", with this specification, the source computer willl break down the image in a defined manner, and the destination computer will be able to use the same technique to reassemple the image upon reciept. Mimetypes are standardised and installed on the servers rather than coded into individual software applications or websites.

Mobile Email
A term used to describe email on your mobile device. This is exactly the same as any other email, only the device used to view the email is mobile as opposed to being a desk top computer or laptop.

Modem
A modem (which is short for modulator/demodulator) is a hardware device that decodes an analogue signal from a telephone line into a digital format that can be read by a computer, and vice versa.

MX Record
An MX record is a type of DNS record that specifically points email towards a domain names assigned email server. An MX record will contain the name of a mailserver and a priority. If a domain name contains more than 1 MX record, email is sent to the email server with the highest priority. If this mail server is unavailable email will be sent to the next highest priority mail server.

MySQL
Prounounced "My-Ess-Que-El" or often as "My Sequel" MySQL is an free, open source database management system that uses Structured Query Language (SQL) to communicate with applications and search for data. In addition to being free and openm source, MySQL has high levels or performance and reliability making it one of the most popular database engines in use today.

Nameserver
Nameservers will resolve a human friendly address into a computer friendly address and will guide browsing machines to the server hosting your website.

Netstat
Netstat is a command line utility to help you troubleshoot network performance by measuring the amount of traffic on the network

NFS
Network File System (NFS) is a protocol that allows files to be accessed across a network. The protocol has been in use since 1984 and was developed by Sun Microsystems.

Nominet
The member of ICCAN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) that has control over the granting and administration of .uk domain names.

NSLookup
NSlookup is a useful suite of tools for looking at specific DNS records. While the ping command can only look at A records, the NSlookup command allows you to question your domains nameservers, and find out much more information regarding your domains DNS.

Online Backup
A service provided allowing you to store a copy of important information online, allowing you to access it across the internet, while also keeping it safe in the event that your local information store becomes inaccessable (hard drive failure, flood, fire etc)

Open Source
Open Source is a term used to describe software for which the source code is made freely available to anyone to download. Open Source software is often written by a community of developersb working together, and is free for anyone to download and use. Mozilla Firefox and Wordpress are two examples of Open Source software.

Opera
Opera is a free, cross-platform Web Browser from Norweigan company Opera Software. It's desktop version has a small market share, but it's mobile phone version is more popular.

Packet Switching
A way of communicating across networks. When sending information from one computer to another, instead of sending one large chunk of data, this information is split into small packets of information. Each packet then travels independantly to the source computer, where they are assembled back together and read.

Payment Gateway
An E-commerce service provider that links a websites point of sale system, acquirer payment systems and card issuer payment systems. This provides the ability to allow credit cards and other payment methods to be processed online. Common payment gateways include PayPal and Google Checkout.

PCI Complience
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is an information security standard which was created to help the payment card industry prevent credit card fraud. Organisations must comply with the standard if they process transactions or manage cardholder information for any supported credit card.

PDF
Portable Document Format (PDF) is a cross-platform compatible file format developed by Adobe for the purpose of exchanging documents across the Internet.

Perl
A general purpose scripting language developed in 1987 by Larry Wall, while popular with internet applications, it can also be used in a variety of tasks.

Permalink
A permanent link to a specicific blog post. This link will continue to point directly at the blog post even after the post has passed from the front page of the website to the archives.

Phishing
A type of deception where the attacker will attempt to fool you into giving away sensitive information about yourself, such as your username or password. This is often in the form of an email and website pertaining to be from a legitimate organisation (such as your bank).

PHP
PHP is a scripting language used to create dynamic web pages. The PHP code is executed on the server, and can be used for a range of purposes such as to create a contact form or provide integration with a database. When the scripting language was originally created in 1995, it was originally called Personal Home Page.

Ping
A command line tool used to test if a particular computer or device is available across a network. It sends a small packet of information and measures the time taken to get a response back.

Plesk
A commercial control panel software, allowing automation of web hosting related tasks on a web server. Licenced and developed by Parallels Inc.

PNG
Portable Network Graphics (PNG) is an image format developed for use on the web. It uses lossless data compression and supports 32-bit colours and transparency. It was created to replace the GIF format, which only supports 256 colours and requires a patent licence to incorporate into software.

Podcast
A non-streaming webcast made popular with the popularity of the iPod. A podcast is a video or audio file that is usually part of a series of related episodes that can be downloaded via an automated feed.

POP3
Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) is a method of retrieving email from a mailbox. Your computer will connect to a mailbox online, and download all the emails onto your local computer, for your viewing.

Port
A port is a networking term used to describe a dedicated channel that allows communication between two devices. Each port has a number, and many ports are reserved for specific purposes. For example, port 80 is used for web traffic using the HTTP protocol, while port 25 is reserved for the sending of mail via SMTP.

Primary Nameserver
While a domain name may have multiple nameservers, the primary nameserver is responsible for the original information. All other nameservers will update their information based upon the primary nameserver file.

Private Folder
This is a folder within your webspace that can only be accessed via code on your website or by connecting to your webspace using FTP. Due to these consraints, it is a useful folder to store sensitive information that you do not want users to find when browsing the internet.

Propagation
which will download email from the mailbox to your local machine. The IMAP protocol will connect your device with your mailbox and syncronise the information. This keeps a copy of your email in your mailbox and with any other device set up to connect to your mailbox.

Proxy
A proxy server acts as an intermediary between a client and a server. When a client computer requests a resource, such as a web page, the proxy server contacts the destination server and requests the required data. The server to which the request has been made only sees the proxy server, and not the client computer that made the original request. Because a proxy server masks the client computer, many people use proxy servers to bypass location specific website features (such as geolocation), or to provide an element of anonymity and security.

RAID
Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) is a way of spreading data across multiple hard disk drives to improve performance, or ensure no data loss in the event of a hard disk drive failure.

Rebuild
Rebuild or redeploy are the terms used when restoring a dedicated or virtual server to it's factory settings. It will wipe all data on the server and start with a clean install of the Operating System. During the process you can also choose to install a different Operating System.

Redemption
Once a domain name expires it enters a "Redemption" period for 45 days. During this time the domain name will not operate, but cannot be purchased by third parties. Domains in a state of redemption can still be renewed by the registrar, however there is an increased cost in renewing a domain in this state.

Registrant
The person or company who registers a domain name. The domain name is legally registered to the registrant.

Registrar
A member of ICCAN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) such as OpenSRS that has control over the granting of certain domain names.

Registry
The Registry (also known as the Registrant's Agent) is the agent of a registrar that can make changes to the record of a domain name. If a domain is registered with Fasthosts then we are the Registry for the domain name. This is not to be confused with the registry on a computer, which stores Windows settings.

Remote Desktop
Remote Desktop is an application for Windows that lets a user connect to a computer or server from another location.

Robot
Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) is a protocol designed for exchanging data across a computer network in a structured manner. It is widely used for programming API's that require a website or application to connect and exchange information with a web service.

robots.txt
Robots.txt is a standard that allows you to stop search engines from indexing certain areas of your website. This is simply a text file that you upload to a folder. When a search engine see's this text file it will not index any content found within the folder. Stopping this content from appearing in any search engine results.

Root
The term Root refers to a top-level object in a hierachy, such as a folder or user.

Root Folder
The Root Folder is the top level folder on a hosting server. It is the folder that contains the home page of the website.

Root Server
There are 13 root servers across the world, and these are the key to finding information on the internet. Your operating system knows the location of these root servers by default and can ask them for the locations of any domain names. While the root servers themselves may not know the location of a specific domain name, they will be able to instruct your computer of another server that may know the whereabounts of the domain name.

Root User
The Root User on a dedicated or virtual server is the top level user, and has full access to all files, folders, and services on the server. The term usually applies to Linux servers, on Windows servers the term Administrator is used instead.

Router
A router is a hardware device that routes traffic on a network.

RSS Feed
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a web format generally used to publish frequent updates to websites. These include news headlines, blog updates, and podcasts. You can subscribe to an RSS feed using your web browser, email software, or a feed reader and any updates to the feed will be automatically pushed to you. For example, Fasthosts have an RSS feed for system status updates. If there is a change to the status of any services, we simply update the RSS feed and any customers who have subscribed to the feed will receive the notification automatically.

Ruby on Rails
Often shortened to Ruby. Ruby on Rails is an open source web application framework developed for the Ruby programming language.

Safari
Safari is a free Web Browser from Apple, and is supplied with Mac OS. They have also created a version that runs on Windows, and a mobile version for the iPhone and iPad.

Script
A script is a file containing code written in a programming language that runs on a web server and outputs HTML that can be read by a web browser. They are used to provide dynamic functionality to a website. For example, a contact form on a website will run a script when submitted, which will process the information given, and send an email to notify the site owner.

Secondary Nameserver
Domain names require at least two nameservers to point computers towards domain name services. While to the outside work both nameservers will act in the same manner, the secondary nameserver will periodically update it's information from the primary nameserver. Meaning that changes only need to be made to the primary nameserver as the secondary nameserver will update itself after it's next update.

SEO
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of making your website rank as highly as possible in search engine searches. As most users will not search beyond the first page of results when looking for a product or service on the internet, this is an important part of any website based business.

SharePoint
Is a collection of software products developed by Microsoft for file sharing, collaboration and web publishing. Specifically centred around sharing information and managing documents across multiple users.

Site Map
A site map is a list of pages available in a web site. They are used to help visitors navigate around the site, and also to help search engine spiders to catalogue the site content.

SiteBuilder
Our SiteBuilder product is an online system for building and publishing a website. It uses templates to keep the design simple - simply choose your template, choose what pages you would like, add some text and pictures, and click Publish to get your website online in just a few minutes.

SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is the protocol used to send email across the internet. While by default, this protocol will usually use port 25 many Internet Service providers now block this port to cut down on unsolicited emails. This protocol is often used in conjunction POP3 or IMAP for recieving emails.

SNMP
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a network protocol that allows network administrators to monitor (and occasionally configure) devices attached to the network (such as routers, switches, servers, printers, and modems) from another location.

SOAP
Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) is a protocol designed for exchanging data across a computer network in a structured manner. It is widely used for programming API's that require a website or application to connect and exchange information with a web service.

Spam
Spam or junk mail is the term used to describe unsolicited email that is sent out in bulk to numerous recipients. The term is derived from the Monty Python sketch in which two customers attempt to order from a menu that contains nothing but spam related food.

Spam Filter
A Spam filter is software that scans email arriving at a destination server, and removes emails identified to be junk. Most filtering software will scan each email for certain keywords that occur frequently within spam emails, and assign each email a score based on the number of keywords found. Fasthosts spam filters let you set the strength of the filtering, which adjusts the score threshhold. Any email that exceeds the threshhold score is either marked as smap, or deleted depending on your preferences.

SPF Record
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a method of reducing Spoofed emails. It is a way of specifying specific email servers that are authorised to send email on behalf of your domain name. Any email pertaining to originate from your domain name that is not sent by an authorised server will be flagged or rejected, depending upon how you set up the record. The records containg the list of authorised mailservers are stored within your Domain names DNS record, either as a comment in a TXT record, or as a specific SPF record type.

Spider
A Spider, also known as a Website Crawler, is a computer software application that is designed to browse the Internet and catalogue the web pages it finds. They are commonly used by search engines, such as Google, to index web sites for their search results.

Spoofed email
A spoofed email is an email that appears to have some from one person, while it has originated elsewhere. Often used by spammers or for sending Phishing emails.

SQL
Structured Query Language (SQL) is a language used for querying and managing data in a relational database. For example, an online shop requesting information on certain products would send an SQL query to the database, which would then return the required information for the site to display. Common SQL databases used on websites are MySQL and MSSQL.

SSL
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is a protocol to provide encryption, and therefore extra security, for web pages. It works by creating a secure encrypted channel through which to send between a visitor's computer and the website, which prevents eavesdropping and data tampering between the two. Web sites that use a payment gateway will use SSL to protect their customers details. Web addresses that use SSL will always begin with https:// and the web browser will often show a padlock symbol when visiting a secured web address.

SSL Certificate
An SSL Certificate is used to confirm the identity of a website, and is used when encrypting and transmitting data across a secure SSL connection.

Streaming
Streaming is the term that refers to the flow of digital sound or video that allows it to be played as the data is transferred, without first storing it.

TCP/IP
TCP/IP are protocols that allow computers to communicate with each other across a network, such as the Internet. There are several protocols present, but TCP/IP is named after the two dominant protocols, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP).

Technical Contact
A domain name typically has up to three contacts. The Technical Contact for a domain will be sent technical correspondence from the registry.

Telnet
Telnet is a network protocol that allows interactive text based communications between two computers. It's often used to text connectivity to a mailbox, by connecting to the mail server and then logging into the mailbox. As it is text based, any errors that may occur are clear and easy to spot.

Terabyte (TB)
A Terabyte (TB) is a unit of information equivalent to 1000 gigabytes or one trillion bytes.

Terminal
The home page (also sometimes referred to as the index page) is the default landing page of a website. When customers first visit a domain name, they will not specify a particlar page to view. In these insnces they will be directed to the home page of the website. The hoome page usually contains an introduction to the website along with navigation to other specific pages.

Thunderbird
Thunderbird is an email client from the Mozilla community. The software is open source and completely free to use. It is highly customisable with hundreds of themes and add-ons that can be installed to extend it's capabilities.

Time to Live (TTL)
Time To Live is terminology used to describe how long any specific information can be used before it may become invalid, or be rechecked. A common use in DNS is with DNS records, where your computer may find the address of a website. When your computer found this address, it was also provided a TTL with the record. It will then store the address information and the TTL on your local machine. If you want to revisit the website again your computer will look at the local record and TTL. If the Time to Live is still valid it will direct you straight to the website without the neen to look up the address again. If the TTL has expired it will consider the information on your local machine as out of date and will look for an up to date record of the websites address on the internet.

Traceroute
Traceroute is a networking tool that enables you to trace the route of a packet across a network. Often used to check for slowness in networks, and to confirm connectivity.

TXT Record
A TXT record is a DNS recod that can be used to store notes or other information in text form about your domain name. The record becomes part of your "Zone file" for your domain name and is stored by your nameservers. A common use for TXT records is to store SPF information.

UDP
User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a protocol that allows devices to communicate with each other across a network. It is a lightweight version of the TCP/IP protocol.

Unix
Unix is an operating system originally developed in 1969 by AT&T. IT served as the inspiration for Linux, which is now widely used for web servers.

Uptime
The Uptime describes the period of time a service, such as a website, email, dedicated, or virtual server is available online.

URL
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is the name given to a web address on the Internet. For example, http://www.google.com is a URL.

UTF
The Unicode Transformation Format (UTF) is a set of character encoding standards, which are designed to support the characters used by a large number of languages across all platforms.

Virtual Server
A Virtual Server is the term used when a powerful server is split up into smaller (virtual) servers. Each is able to run completely separate operating system instances from one another. This allows you to make the best use of shared hardware resources while being completely isolated from other virtual servers on the same physical server.

VPS
A Virtual Server is the term used when a powerful server is split up into smaller (virtual) servers. Each is able to run completely separate operating system instances from one another. This allows you to make the best use of shared hardware resources while being completely isolated from other virtual servers on the same physical server.

Web Browser
A Web Browser is a software application that can be used to view web pages over the Internet. Popular web browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Opera.

Webmail
Webmail is the name given to Fasthosts' web based email software, that allows customers to read and send email through their web browser.

Website Crawler
A Web crawler is a computer program that browses the World Wide Web in a methodical, automated manner or in an orderly fashion. Other terms for Web crawlers are ants, automatic indexers, bots, or Web spiders, Web robots.

Whitelist
A whitelist is a list of email addresses that are known to be safe. SPAM filtering software will automatically allow any emails from an address on the whitelist.

WHOIS
A Whois lookup will provide information about a domain name from the registry responsible for the domain name's record. Typically the information provided will incldue the contact details of the admin contact, the dates the domain name was registered and is due to expire, and the current nameservers that the domain name is using.

Wide Area Network (WAN)
A Wide Area netowrk is a network that can span more than one geographical location. Technically the Internet is a Wide Area Network, although typically this term is more used to describe a company network that may cover a number of separate offices.

Wiki
Derived from the Hawaiian work "wikiwiki" (meaning "quick") A wiki is a collaborative website that if the work of many website authors. A Wiki usually allows anyone to add or edit content, including original content.

Wordpress
Wordpress is a popular open source blogging platform. It is free to download and install on a web hosting server. It links to a MySQL database and provides a complete administration portal to allow users to login and post articles. It has a widespread community of developers who create add-ons to extend it's functionality, and templates to customise it's apperarance.

XML
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a generic file structure used to provide data over the Internet. It's format is similar to HTML with opening and closing tags. However there is no standardisation to the tags used, meaning there is no limit to it's use. One of the more common uses for XML is for RSS Feeds.

Zone File
A Zone file is a text file that defines the DNS mappings between domain names and IP addresses on a server. It is used to ensure that a domain name can resolve to an IP address on a network.