.htaccess

configuration file that contains server directives (small commands known by the server) that tell the server how to behave. A .htaccess file is used to restrict access (password-protection) to specific files and/or directories on the Internet or an intranet.

MS Access® published by Microsoft is an easy to use and highly integrated database creation and maintenance software. Capable of online databases, the software is supported with the NT hosting platform.

(American Standard Code for Information Interchange) -- This is the de facto world-wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111, plus parity.

ASP - Active Server Pages (ASP). ASP files, which provide Web developers with an easier, faster, and more powerful way to build Web applications, are regular HTML pages with embedded scripts. These scripts can be written in any language and processed by the server when the file's URL is requested.

A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. The term is relative, as a backbone in a small network will likely be much smaller than many non-backbone lines in a large network.

The term is also used to describe the rated throughput capacity of a given network medium or protocol. In short, bandwidth is a loose term used to describe the throughput capacity (measured in Kilobits or Megabits per second) of a specific circuit.
A 1000 MB bandwidth per month is approximately equivalent to 66000 page views per month

Unit of signaling speed equal to the number of discrete signal elements transmitted per second. Baud is synonymous with bits per second (bps). In common usage the baud rate of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second. Technically, baud is the number of times per second that the carrier signal shifts value - for example a 1200 bit-per-second modem actually runs at 300 baud, but it moves 4 bits per baud (4 x 300 = 1200 bits per second).

A single digit number in base-2, in other words, either a 1 or a zero. The smallest unit of computerized data. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second.

(Bits-Per-Second) -- A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another. A 28.8 modem can move 28,800 bits per second.

Client software that is used to look at various kinds of Internet resources. Examples include Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape's Navigator.

A set of Bits that represent a single character. Usually there are 8 Bits in a Byte, sometimes more, depending on how the measurement is being made.

An email account in which an email of the form, anything@yourdomain.com, will go to you. For example, Support@you.com, Webmaster@you.com, and anything-else@you.com, will all be sent to the account (some hosts allow you to have these sent to different accounts) set up for you.

An issuer of Security Certificates used in SSL connections.

(Common Gateway Interface) -- 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 (the `CGI program`) talks to the web server. Any piece of software can be a CGI program if it handles input and output according to the CGI standard. Usually a CGI program is a small program that takes data from a web server and does something with it, like putting the content of a form into an e-mail message, or turning the data into a database query.

The most common name of a directory on a web server in which CGI programs are stored. The `bin` part of `cgi-bin` is a shorthand version of `binary`, because once upon a time, most programs were referred to as `binaries`. In real life, most programs found in cgi-bin directories are text files -- scripts that are executed by binaries located elsewhere on the server. While most programs using CGI are stored in this directory, it is not a requirement for using CGI.

A software program that is used to contact and obtain data from a server software program on another computer, often across a great distance. Each client program is designed to work with one or more specific kinds of server programs, and each server requires a specific kind of client. A web browser and an FTP program are specific kinds of clients.

A scripting language for advanced web development and database interfacing. Cold Fusion supports Microsoft Access, dBASE, FoxPro, and Paradox databases.

The most common meaning of `Cookie` on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser that the Browser software is expected to save and to send back to the Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server. Depending on the type of Cookie used, and the Browser`s settings, the Browser may accept or not accept the Cookie, and may save the Cookie for either a short time or a long time. Cookies might contain information such as login or registration information, online `shopping cart` information, user preferences, etc. When a Server receives a request from a Browser that includes a Cookie, the Server is able to use the information stored in the Cookie. For example, the Server might customize what is sent back to the user, or keep a log of particular user`s requests.

Any outward-bound traffic from your web site is considered data transfer. For example, each time a html file, image, or other element on your web page is loaded, data transfer is generated.

Comprehensive daily graphical reports on your website visitor demographics. Allows you to monitor how much traffic goes to your Website.

Disk space refers to the amount of server disk storage your account is allocated. This space is used to store your html files, graphics, audio clips, POP mail messages, databases and all other files that make up your Web site.

The DNS is a distributed, replicated that allows name servers to map easily remembered domain names to an IP number.

The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general. A given machine may have more than one Domain Name but a given Domain Name points to only one machine. Usually, all of the machines on a given Network will have the same thing as the right-hand portion of their Domain Names in the examples above. It is also possible for a Domain Name to exist but not be connected to an actual machine. This is often done so that a group or business can have an Internet e-mail address without having to establish a real Internet site. In these cases, some real Internet machine must handle the mail on behalf of the listed Domain Name.

Electronic Commerce. Refers to the general exchange of goods and services via the Internet.

(Electronic Mail) -- Messages sent from one person to another via computer. E-mail can also be sent automatically to a large number of addresses (Mailing List).

Auto responders may be used to send automated responses to incoming e-mail sent to a specific address. An auto responder could be used to send a standard messages.

- Having email automatically sent (forwarded) from one (or more) email address, to another (possibly more than one) email address that you specify. If a person has `unlimited email forwarding`, then an email of the form, anything@you.com will be sent to forwarding address. For example, Support@you.com, Webmaster@you.com, and Anything-else@you.com, will all be sent to the account (some hosts allow you to have these sent to different accounts) specified to be sent to.

Processing and changing data so that only the intended recipient can read it. The recipient of the encrypted data must have the proper decryption key and program to decipher the data.

A server farm is a group of load-balanced servers IP addresses or server names. The farm is identified by a virtual IP address or a virtual server name and may contain many different physical “member servers”. Depending on the complexity of your requirements a single farm may contain various services such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP, streaming audio/video, etc. all within itself or you may have separate farms associated with each service you wish to load balance. Farms may contain farms of farms for various complex configuration requirements.

Free for all. Scripts that automatically update a links listing (these are usually submitted to by automated programs).

An Internet software tool for locating people on other Internet sites. Finger is also sometimes used to give access to non-personal information, but the most common use is to see if a person has an account at a particular Internet site. Many sites do not allow incoming Finger requests.

A combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN into two or more parts for security purposes.

Microsoft® FrontPage is a site creation and management software tool. One of the most popular website creation software packages the software, both FrontPage® 98 and FrontPage ®2000 is widely supported by the hosting community.

(File Transfer Protocol) -- A very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a special way to login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files.

1024 Megabytes

A script on a web page with a form which allows your website visitors to sign in, and leave comments or questions.

As used in reference to the World Wide Web, `hit` means a single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server; thus in order for a web browser to display a page that contains 3 graphics, 4 `hits` would occur at the server: 1 for the HTML page, and one for each of the 3 graphics.

The first web page that is displayed after starting a web browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. (2) The intended beginning page of a website on the Internet.

Several meanings. Originally, the web page that your browser is set to use when it starts up. The more common meaning refers to the main web page for a business, organization, person or simply the main page out of a collection of web pages. Usually the home page is indicated as index.htm,index.html, default. asp, index. asp etc..

A computer on a network which provides disk storage or services to other computers on the network.

Every website, email, file, or online service is stored (called `hosted`) on a computer (called a server) which is connected to the Internet.

(Hypertext Markup Language) -- The coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web.

(HyperText Transport Protocol) -- The protocol for moving hypertext files across the Internet. Requires a HTTP client program on one end, and an HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World Wide Web (WWW).

Index Server indexes the contents and properties of documents on an Internet or intranet Web site served by IIS 4.0. Index Server enables Web clients with any browser to search a Web site by filling in the fields of an HTML query form.

InterNIC (now known as Network Solutions) currently holds an exclusive contract with the U.S. government to assign domain names for .COM, .NET and .ORG. Network Solutions is the company that runs the InterNIC registry.

A private network inside a company or organization that uses the same kinds of software that you would find on the public Internet, but that is only for internal use.

(Internet Protocol Number) -- Sometimes called a dotted quad. A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots. Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet.

A unique number consisting of 4 numbers (0-255) separated by periods (e.g. 216.167.127.138). Every computer that is on the Internet has a unique IP number. It is sometimes referred to as a `dotted quad`.

(Internet Relay Chat) -- Basically a huge multi-user live chat facility. There are a number of major IRC servers around the world which are linked to each other. Anyone can create a channel and anything that anyone types in a given channel is seen by all others in the channel. Private channels can (and are) created for multi-person conference calls.

(Internet Service Provider) -- An institution that provides access to the Internet.

Java is a network-oriented programming language invented by Sun Microsystems that is specifically designed for writing programs that can be safely downloaded to your computer through the Internet and immediately run without fear of viruses or other harm to your computer or files. Using small Java programs (called `Applets`), Web pages can include functions such as animations, calculators, and others.

A thousand bytes. Actually, usually 1024 (210) bytes.

(Local Area Network) -- A computer network limited to the immediate area, usually the same building or floor of a building.

Refers to a phone line that is rented for exclusive 24-hour, 7 -days-a-week use from your location to another location. The highest speed data connections require a leased line.

Load balancing is the act of distributing the load of a single web site or other service to multiple physical servers. It can be accomplished using a number of simple as well as more complex methods, such as round robin, least users, least traffic, or weights defined per server, among others. It offers lower cost, higher performance and reliability than having one large enterprise-scale server. A load-balanced server set provides redundancy and practically infinite scalability. If one server goes down, there is no noticeable effect on end users and no downtime; new servers can be added and servers taken down for maintenance transparently to end users. A load-balanced set can consist of as little as two servers, or of thousands of servers. The term load balancing refers to front end (i.e. incoming traffic) distribution only; load balancing does not include back-end functionality such as data replication or mirroring; that further service is known as clustering.

The account name used to gain access to a computer system.

Abbreviation for Millions of Bits Per Second, or Megabits Per Second. It is a measure of bandwidth on a telecommunications medium.

A million bytes. A thousand kilobytes.

A script on a web page(s) with a form which allows you to host discussions on your web site. You can make these discussions anything you want, or you can let your visitors choose the topic. It is also called a web board or a forum.

To mirror is to maintain an exact copy of something. Probably the most common use of the term on the Internet refers to `mirror sites` which are web sites, or FTP sites that maintain exact copies of material originated at another location, usually in order to provide more widespread access to the resource. Another common use of the term `mirror` refers to an arrangement where information is written to more than one hard disk simultaneously, so that if one disk fails, the computer keeps on working without losing anything.

An audio compression standard, or file type, for encoding music.

Microsoft Access is the best selling database in the world since it comes bundled in Microsoft Office. Powerful and fully compatible with ASP scripting. MS access is perfect small (less than 10000 records) applications.

search engine facility for NT based websites.

High-end performance database application for NT servers, for large and complicated back-end integration of database files.

A tool commonly used for database integration on NT servers.

Widely regarded as the best open-source UNIX based SQL database.

A computer that performs the mapping of easily remembered domain names to IP addresses. Sometimes referred to as a host server.

A WWW Browser and the name of a company now owned by AOL. The Netscape(tm) browser. Netscape has diminished in popularity and is generally considered inferior to Microsoft`s Explorer browser.

Any time you connect 2 or more computers together so that they can share resources, you have a computer network. Connect 2 or more networks together and you have an internet.

The name for discussion groups on USENET.

Any single computer connected to a network.

Windows NT® is Microsoft`s® 32-bit operating system. Used by web hosting companies in the network environment to offer customers support for Microsoft base products such as MS Access®, MS SQL® 7.0, and FrontPage® 2000.

Refers to a circuit that transmits 155,000,000 bits per second. This is the size of the largest Internet backbone providers networks.

Optical Carrier levels - Used to specify the speed of fiber optic networks. The base rate (OC-1) is 51.84 Mbps. OC-2 runs at twice the base rate, OC-3 at three times the base rate, etc. Planned rates include OC-1, OC-3 (155.52 Mbps), OC-12 (622.08 Mpbs), OC-24 (1.244 Gbps), and OC-48 (2.488 Gbps).

The method used to move data around on the Internet. In packet switching, all the data coming out of a machine is broken up into chunks, each chunk has the address of where it came from and where it is going. This enables chunks of data from many different sources to co-mingle on the same lines, and be sorted and directed to different routes by special machines along the way. This way many people can use the same lines at the same time.

Parking is the process by which someone selects a domain name, and `parks` it by registering the domain name under someone`s name servers. Parking can be done by anyone, to anyone else who has active name servers. However, parking a domain name alone will result in no service (hosting, e-mail ect..) for that particular domain name

A code used to gain access to a locked system.

A scripting (programming) language which is commonly used to write CGI programs to be run from a website. Perl programs are text files that are parsed (run through and executed) by a program called an `interpreter` on the server.

- A scripting language. The PHP scripts, or commands, which are embedded in the web page`s HTML, are executed on the web server to generate dynamic HTML pages (e.g. search results from a database). See php.net.

3 meanings. First and most generally, a place where information goes into or out of a computer, or both. E.g. the serial port on a personal computer is where a modem would be connected. On the Internet port often refers to a number that is part of a URL, appearing after a colon (:) right after the domain name. Every service on an Internet server listens on a particular port number on that server. Most services have standard port numbers, e.g. Web servers normally listen on port 80. Services can also listen on non-standard ports, in which case the port number must be specified in a URL when accessing the server.

The process by the name servers throughout the world have updated their records for a specific domain. For example, if you move your domain from one host to another, it will take around 24-48 hours or so for the new address to broadcast everywhere. During that period, the traffic is decreasing at the old location and increasing at the new location.

For statistical analysis, you may download for compiling on your local machine.

Real Audio/Real Video enables users to send and receive audio, video and other multimedia services using the Web.

An organization responsible for assigning domain names for the TLD that they manage. Furthermore, it is their responsibility to update the global DNS tables that all nameservers use to resolve domain names. For example, InterNIC is the registry for .COM, .NET and .ORG domain names.

A special-purpose computer (or software package) that handles the connection between 2 or more networks. Routers spend all their time looking at the destination addresses of the packets passing through them and deciding which route to send them on.

SSL protocol to establish a secure connection. Security Certificates contain information about who it belongs to, who it was issued by, a unique serial number or other unique identification, valid dates, and an encrypted `fingerprint` that can be used to verify the contents of the certificate. In order for an SSL connection to be created both sides must have a valid Security Certificate

A computer that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a WWW server, or to the machine on which the software is running. A single server machine could have several different server software packages running on it, thus providing many different servers to clients on the network.

A Cluster is a group of physical servers, which run front end web server software and contain back end data base-type facilities. A Cluster can be as simple as a two servers, one front end and one back end, but normally a cluster will have several servers. Clusters contain facilities for services such as load balancing and data replication. Clusters offer enhanced security, redundancy and enhanced performance and are a natural evolution to any successful complex web site or Internet-based application.

Add the convenience and flexibility of embedding CGI capability into your web pages.

Shockwave, produced by Macromedia, allows you to view new forms of entertainment on the Web, such as games, music, chat, interactive product demos, and e-merchandising applications

Allows you to sell or purchase goods or services via your website.

(Simple Mail Transport Protocol) -- The main protocol used to send electronic mail on the Internet. SMTP consists of a set of rules for how a program sending mail and a program receiving mail should interact.

An inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list, or USENET or other networked communications facility as if it was a broadcast medium (which it is not) by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn`t ask for it.

(Structured Query Language) -- A specialized programming language for sending queries to databases. Most industrial-strength and many smaller database applications can be addressed using SQL. Each specific application will have its own version of SQL implementing features unique to that application, but all SQL-capable databases support a common subset of SQL.

Scripting commands which can be embedded within a web page and parsed by the web server. These are commonly used to include files (such as a header or footer) that are used on multiple pages; show date and time; provide a `back` link; or execute CGI scripts such as counters and rotating banners.

(Secure Sockets Layer) -- A protocol designed by Netscape Communications to enable encrypted, authenticated communications across the Internet. SSL used mostly (but not exclusively) in communications between web browsers and web servers. URL`s that begin with `https` indicate that an SSL connection will be used. SSL provides 3 important things: Privacy, Authentication, and Message Integrity. In an SSL connection each side of the connection must have a Security Certificate, which each side`s software sends to the other. Each side then encrypts what it sends using information from both its own and the other side`s Certificate, ensuring that only the intended recipient can de-crypt it, and that the other side can be sure the data came from the place it claims to have come from, and that the message has not been tampered with.

Secure Socket Layers (SSL) allows you to encrypt credit card numbers or other confidential documents so that it is impossible to intercept during a transmission.

A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 1,544,000 bits-per-second.

A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits-per-second.

(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) -- This is the suite of protocols that defines the Internet. Originally designed for the UNIX operating system, TCP/IP software is now available for every major kind of computer operating system. To be truly on the Internet, your computer must have TCP/IP software.

The command and program used to login from one Internet site to another. The telnet command program gets you to the login: prompt of another host.

1024 gigabytes (GB).

On occasion, domains are sold to another organization or sometimes the name of a company might change. Most registries require a letter of permission from the old owner to hand over control to the new owner. The procedures for Transfer of ownership will depend on the registry.

(Uniform Resource Locator) -- The standard way to give the address of any resource on the Internet that is part of the World Wide Web (WWW).

The Microsoft® Visual Basic® programming language, is a fast, portable, lightweight interpreter for use in World Wide Web browsers and other applications that use Microsoft® ActiveX® Controls, Automation servers, and Java applets.

(Wide Area Network) -- Any internet or network that covers an area larger than a single building or campus.

WWW is the World Wide Web

An HTML document with its own web address (URL). The first page you usually request at a web site is called the `home page`. With frames, multiple pages (HTML files) can be downloaded to a browser and arranged on designated sections of the display screen at the same time -- these are also collectively termed a `web page`.

A Web server is a program that, using the client/server model and the World Wide Web`s Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), serves the files that form Web pages to Web users (whose computers contain HTTP clients that forward their requests). Every computer on the Internet that contains a Web site must have a Web server program. Two leading Web servers are Apache, the most widely-installed Web server, and Microsoft`s Internet Information Server (IIS). Other Web servers include Novell`s Web Server for users of its NetWare operating system and IBM`s family of Lotus Domino servers, primarily for IBM`s OS/390 and AS/400 customers.

A collection of interlinked web pages on a particular subject, usually under a single Domain Name, which includes an intended beginning file called a `home page`. From the home page, you can get to all the other pages on the web site.

Hard drive data storage space accessed via the Internet - it may be used to store data files or host websites, depending on the hosts` terms.

Most registries maintain a database of domain names and their associated contact information. Users can query these databases through a program called Whois.

Acronym for `What You See Is What You Get`. A WYSIWYG editor or program is one that allows you to create a web page, text, or graphical user interface so that you can see what the end result will look like while the document or interface is being created. WYSIWYG web page editors, such as Microsoft FrontPage and Adobe PageMill, conceal the markup language (HTML) and allow you to think entirely in terms of how the page should appear.

The group of files that reside on the domain host or name server. The zone file designates a domain, its sub-domains and mail server.