Backbone
The
network of connections and high-speed lines that
forms the infrastructure of the Internet. An
important consideration in choosing a Web site
host is that host's proximity to the backbone.
The less network distance between your provider
and the backbone, the faster and more reliable
your Web site will be.
Bandwidth
The
amount of data that can be sent through a network
connection, usually measured in bits per second
(bps), megabits per second (Mbps), or gigabits
per second (Gbps).
Bulletin
board
A
computerized version of the bulletin boards found
in stores and other public places, where people
can leave messages and advertise things they
want to buy or sell.
CGI
scripts
Programs
that run on a Web server, in response to input
from a browser. CGI scripts link the server and
a program running on the system; for example,
CGI scripts are used with interactive forms.
Chat
A forum for online, real-time conversation
carried on by typing messages into a box viewable
by all parties involved.
Chat
room
A
real-time electronic forum; a virtual room where
visitors can meet others and share ideas on a
particular subject.There are chat rooms on the
Internet, BBSs, and other online services.
Common
Gateway Interface (CGI)
A
set of rules that describe how a Web server communicates
with another piece of software on the same machine,
and how the other piece of software talks to
the Web server. Usually, a CGI program is a small
routine that takes data from a Web server and
does something with it, like putting the content
of a form into an email message, or turning the
data into a database query.
Community
Many
Web sites choose to develop communities in order
to maintain visitor loyalty. Chat rooms and Bulletin
Board Service are common ways of developing a
Web site community.
Control
Panel
A
Web site Control Panel provides a simple user
interface for maintaining and monitoring your
Web site. Features of the Control Panel vary
among providers, but most include site administration,
design, statistical reporting, and account maintenance
tools.
Data
transfer
Any
outward-bound traffic from your Web site is considered
data transfer. For example, each time an HTML
file, image, or other element on your Web page
is loaded, data transfer is generated.
Disk
space
One
of the factors in how much you'll pay for Web
hosting is how much space you will need to store
your Web pages. Your Web pages take up space
on the Web server in the same way word processing
documents take up space on your computer's hard
drive. Disk space is usually reported in megabytes
(MB).
Domain
name
The
unique name that identifies an Internet site.
For example, www.artofthegroove.com is the domain
name for our company
.Domain
name registration
Most
Web hosts will offer to register your chosen
domain name for you. Alternatively, you can choose
to register your domain name directly through
InterNIC. Regardless of the method you choose
there is a standard charge for registration.
Domain
name service
Most
Web hosting packages include domain name service.
This means your Web host directs all inquiries
to www.yourname.com to your files on their server.
Down-time
The
amount of time your Web site is disconnected
or inaccessible via the Internet is known as
down-time
.e-Commerce
Electronic
commerce is the exchange of goods or services
via the Internet.
Email
Electronic
mail. In its simplest form, email is a way of
exchanging text by passing text from one computer
through a network to another computer.
File
Transfer Protocol (FTP)
A
set of rules for moving files between to Internet
sites.
Hyper
Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
The
set of rules governing the transmission of hypertext
files across the Internet. Hypertext is any text
that contains links to other documents; Hypertext
documents are created using HTML (Hyper Text
Markup Language) to "tag" blocks of text or links.
These tags specify the way text appears as well
as the targets for links to other documents or
sites. Every Web page you visit is reached using
HTTP.
Linux
An
opensource version of the Unix operating system.
We utilize RedHat Linux on our servers.
Megabyte
(MB)
The
standard unit for measuring disk space and
monthly bandwidth use.
Microsoft
FrontPage
This
software is designed to aid in developing and
maintaining Web sites. FrontPage Extensions allow
you to add simple CGI-like capabilities to your
site (such as guestbooks, counters, forms, discussion
forums, etc.) without writing code, but taking
advantage of this extra functionality requires
special software on the provider's end.
Multimedia
Audio,
video, and animation all fall under the heading
of multimedia.
Server
A
computer connected to the Internet that holds
documents and makes them available for viewing
by remote browsers.
Unix
The
name of a group of server operating platforms
from Sun, RedHat, HP, and others.
Up-time
A
measure of a Web host's quality is how many hours
per month that host's connection to the Internet
is fully operational. That measurement is known
as up-time.
UPS
Uninterruptible
Power Supply. Protects your server and your Web
site during a power outage
URL
Uniform
Resource Locator (formerly Universal Resource
Locator). An Internet address which tells a browser
where to find an Internet resource. For example,
the URL for Art Of The Groove is http://www.artofthegroove.com.
Web
host
A company that rents hard drive space and network connections to
Web sites is a Web host.
Web
server
Generally used in reference to the computer hardware that provides
World Wide Web services on the Internet, a Web server includes the
hardware, operating system, server software, TCP/IP protocols and
the Web site content; it may also refer to the software only.
