Web Hosting Glossary for Beginners: 50 Terms in Plain English

Hosting pages are full of abbreviations that assume you already know what they mean. This glossary explains the common ones in plain English, grouped by topic so you can read it straight through or jump to what you need. If you are comparing plans, it will also help you see what a feature list is actually promising.

Hosting types and servers

• Web host: a company that provides the servers and services needed to make a website available on the internet.
• Server: a computer that stores website files and answers requests from visitors' browsers.
• Shared hosting: many accounts on one server, sharing its resources. The cheapest and simplest option. See shared hosting.
• VPS (virtual private server): a virtual machine with reserved resources and usually root access. See VPS hosting.
• Dedicated server: an entire physical machine for one customer.
• Reseller hosting: a plan that lets you divide resources into separate accounts for your own clients.
• Cloud hosting: hosting spread across a pool of servers; the exact meaning varies by provider.
• Managed hosting: hosting where the provider handles part of the technical administration.
• Data centre: the facility where servers are kept, with power, cooling and network connections.

Resources and limits

• Disk space / storage: how much data your account can hold, including files, databases and email.
• SSD / NVMe: types of fast solid-state storage, much quicker than traditional hard drives.
• Bandwidth / data transfer: the amount of data sent to visitors, usually counted per month.
• RAM: the memory servers use for tasks in progress; a lack of it causes slowness and errors.
• CPU: the processor that performs calculations such as building pages.
• Inode: a record for each file or folder; plans may limit the total.
• Fair use: a policy that limits how much of a shared resource any one customer should consume.

Domains and DNS

• Domain name: the human-readable address, such as example.com.
• Registrar: the company that sells you a domain registration.
• TLD: top-level domain; the ending, such as .com or .org.
• DNS: the system that translates domain names into server addresses.
• Nameserver: a server that holds the DNS records for a domain.
• A record: a DNS record linking a name to an IPv4 address.
• AAAA record: the same, for an IPv6 address.
• CNAME: a record that makes one name an alias of another.
• MX record: tells the world which server receives email for the domain.
• TXT record: holds text data, used for email authentication and verification.
• TTL: time to live; how long DNS answers may be cached before being re-checked.
• Propagation: the time it takes for a DNS change to be visible everywhere.
• IP address: the numeric address of a server on the internet.

Security and certificates

• SSL/TLS: encryption between the visitor and your server. TLS is the modern version, though people still say SSL.
• HTTPS: the secure version of HTTP, shown by a padlock in browsers. See our SSL page.
• Let's Encrypt: a free certificate authority widely used for hosting certificates.
• Firewall: software that filters network traffic to block unwanted connections.
• WAF: web application firewall; filters malicious web requests.
• Malware: malicious software, often injected into outdated sites.
• Two-factor authentication (2FA): a second proof of identity in addition to a password.

Email terms

• IMAP: a protocol that keeps mail on the server and synchronises across devices.
• SMTP: the protocol used to send email.
• SPF, DKIM, DMARC: records that prove your email is genuine and reduce spoofing and spam placement.
• Webmail: reading email through a browser.

Performance and tools

• CDN: content delivery network; copies of your files stored near visitors for speed. See CDN information.
• Cache: a stored copy of something, so it can be served faster next time.
• TTFB: time to first byte; how long the server takes to begin responding.
• Uptime: the percentage of time a site is available.
• Control panel: the web dashboard for managing your hosting, such as Plesk.
• FTP / SFTP: methods for uploading files; SFTP is the encrypted version.
• SSH: secure command-line access to a server.
• Cron job: a scheduled task that runs automatically.
• Staging: a private copy of your site for testing changes.
• Backup: a saved copy of your data used to restore it after a problem.

How to use this list

When you read a plan description, translate each term into a question: what limit does this set, who is responsible, and what happens if I exceed it? If a term is not on this list or the provider's explanation is vague, ask. A good provider treats questions as part of the sale. The knowledge base goes deeper on many of these topics.

Terms that sound alike

Domain vs hosting: the domain is the name, hosting is the place the site lives. Nameserver vs mail server: the first answers DNS questions, the second handles email. SSL vs HTTPS: SSL/TLS is the encryption technology, HTTPS is the web address scheme that uses it. Backup vs redundancy: a backup is a copy to restore from later, redundancy is a duplicate running now. Uptime vs speed: uptime is availability, speed is how quickly pages load once available. Keeping these pairs straight prevents most beginner confusion.

Learning with Zebra Hosting

If a word on a plan page is unclear, ask our team in any of 17 languages through the contact page. We would rather explain it before you buy than after.