Swiftlane's Website Hosting Terminology/Glossary
404 Error
Verisimilar to the way a telephone line has static, error message 404 is like a static Web page. The URL, 404 is an error message. Commonly, it is displayed when a Web browser cannot locate a Web page or script.
Active Server Page (ASP)
An ASP is an HTML page. An ASP includes one or more scripts. It is processed on a Microsoft Web server. An ASP is a third-party entity. It manages and distributes software-based services and solutions from a central data center to customers across a WAN (wide area network). An ASP is a way for a company to outsource a portion or all aspects of their information technology. Typically, the script in the Web page at the server uses input received. As a result, the user's request for the page accesses data from the database. Then, it build or customizes the page on demand before sending it to the requestor.
Apache
A freely available Web server, Apache (a public-domain open source web server) is distributed under an "open source" license.
Applet
An applet is a small program. It can be sent along with a Web page to a user. An applet uses Java, the object-oriented programming language. Java applets are capable of executing immediate calculations, interactive animations, or other simple activities without having to submit a user request back to the server.
Browser
A browser is an application program. It allows the user to read through, navigate text files online, and interact with information on the Web. The term "browser" was derived from the Web as a generic term for user interfaces. In technical terms, a Web browser is a client program. It use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to make requests of Web servers throughout the Internet on behalf of the browser user. (Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are popular browsers).
Common Gateway Interface (CGI)
Common Gateway Interface (CGI), a standard way for a Web server to pass a Web user's request to an application program. It transmits data back to the user. When an end user completes a form on a Web page, it transmits the data to the server. Normally, it requires an application program. It transmits the data to a small application program that processes the information. The method for exchanging the data back and forth between the server and the application is called the common gateway interface (CGI).
CGI-BIN
The CGI Bin is the most common name of a directory on a web server. It is the directory in which CGI programs are stored. "Bin" is short for "binary." Most of the programs found in a cgi-bin directory are text files.
Counter
A counter is a logging program that counts and displays how many people have visited an HTML page.
Domain Name System (DNS)
The domain name system (DNS) is the method in which Internet Protocol addresses are located on the Internet. A domain name is an address to locate a site. (In example, Swiftlane.com is the address that translates, the IP address example: 209.153.212.111.
Domain Forwarding
The forwarding of one domain name to another website URL or IP address. It allows more than one domain name to access the same website.
Domain Parking
Is the process of registering a domain and then placing the domain on a server for future reservation or utilization purposes. In addition, domain parking is used to reserve a name with a.com, .net and .org of a given domain name).
Domain Registration
The process of registering a domain name in the interNIC registry is called domain registration. An Internet domain name is a unique name combined with a top-level domain name (TLD) extension. In example, SwiftLane.com is a domain name within the .com TLD. Currently, more than 30 million domain names exist within the .com, .net., .org TLDs.
E-commerce
On the Internet, e-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services. E-commers is interchangeable with the term e-business. For online retail selling, the term e-tailing is used, as well.
E-mail autoresponder
An automated email function that returns a prewritten message to anyone who sends e-mail to a particular e-mail address. Autoresponders are commonly used for the purpose of responding to visitor comments and suggestions in a preliminary way.
E-mail Forward
An electronic mailing function that transmits a copy of an e-mail to another e-mail address.
E-mail Server
A computer in a network that provides "post office" facilities. E-mail servers store incoming mail for distribution to users and forwards outgoing mail through the appropriate channel. The term may reference the software that performs the service that resides on a machine with other services.
FrontPage
A popular WYSIWYG Web authoring program from Microsoft for Windows and MacIntosh or Mac. FrontPage Editor is the graphical editor for designing HTML pages and FrontPage Explorer is the management tool that lets you construct and maintain the entire site.
FrontPage Extensions
The server extensions for Microsoft FrontPage website development and management tools. The FrontPage extensions are a set of server-side applications that allows the end user to incorporate many advanced features without having to write the complex server-side programs.
FTP
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the protocol used on the Internet for uploading files online.
Guestbook
A component of a website that enables the site visitor to view and add information or comments regarding a website.
HTML
The acronym for HyperText Markup Language, HTML is the authoring language used to create documents on the Internet.
HTTPS
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer, or HTTP over SSL) is a Web protocol. It encrypts and decrypts user page requests along with the pages that are returned by the Web server. In essence, HTTPS is the use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) as a sub-layer under the regular HTTP application. (A regular HTTP uses port 80 in its interactions with the lower layer, TCP/IP while the HTTPS uses port 443.)
Image map
During Web page development, an image map is a graphic image. It enables the end user to click on various areas of the image to be linked to different destinations. An image map can be created by defining each of the sensitive areas in terms of their x and y coordinates. With each set of coordinates, the designer can specify a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or web address that will provide access to another page when the user clicks on that area.
Internet Explorer
One of the most popular Web browser, Internet Explorer was developed by Microsoft. Similar to the Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer enables the user to view Web pages. (Both browsers, Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer support Java and JavaScript. (ActiveX is supported by Internet Explorer).
JAVA
An advanced level programming language, JAVA was developed by Sun MicroSystems. Similar to C++, JAVA is an object-oriented language; however, it is but simplified to eliminate language features that cause common programming errors.
JavaScript
JavaScript is a script language from Netscape that interprets programming. Generally used for creating functions to automatically change a formatted date on a Web page, the JavaScript causes a linked-to page to appear in a popup window. It enables the text or a graphic image to change during a mouse rollover.
LINUX (Pronunciation, lee-nucks)
Linux is a freely distributable implementation of UNIX operating system. It operates on a number of hardware platforms (Intel and Motorola microprocessors). Because Linux is free, it has become extremely popular.
Mail Client
An application that operates on a workstation or personal computer, a mail client enables the user to send, receive and organize e-mail. It is referred to as a client because e-mail systems are based on a client-server architecture. Electronic mail/data is transmitted from many clients to a central server that re-routes the mail to its intended destination.
Meta Tag
A special HTML tag that provides information about a Web page. Dissimilar to normal HTML tags, meta tags do not affect how the page is displayed. Meta tags provide information (how often the page is updated, who originated the page, the contents of the page and which keywords represent the page's content).
MX Record
A MX record is a Mail Exchanger record. It identifies an end user's mail server IP name and address so that the user can receive SMTP e-mail.
MySQL (Pronunciation "my ess cue el,")
An open source relational database management system (RDBMS), MySQL uses Structured Query Language (SQL), a most popular language for adding, accessing, and processing data in a database. MySQL is recognized for its flexibility, speed and convenience.
Netscape
Netscape is one of the two most popular Web browser. Also the name of the Netscape Communications company, Netscape is owned by America Online (AOL). Generally most Internet users use either Netscape's browser or Microsoft's Internet Explorer (MSIE) browser, and many users use both.
Nslookup
A command used to acquire the IP address of a given domain name, or vice versa.
ODBC
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is an open standard application programming interface (API) for accessing a database. The use of ODBC statements in a program makes files accessible in a number of different databases, including Access, dBase, DB2, Excel, and Text.
Packet
A packet is the unit of data that is routed between an origin and a destination on the Internet. Once a file (e-mail message, HTML file, Graphics Interchange Format file, Uniform Resource Locator request, and so forth) is submitted from one place to another online, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) layer of TCP/IP divides the file into "chunks" of an efficient size for routing. Each of the packets is separately numbered and detailed in the Internet address of the destination.
PHP
The acronym stands for "Personal Home Page Tools." It is an alternative to Microsoft's Active Server Page (ASP) technology. In Web programming, PHP is a script language and interpreter that is freely available and used primarily on Linux Web servers.
Ping
Ping is a basic Internet program that lets you verify that a particular IP address exists and can accept requests. The verb ping means the act of using the ping utility or command. Ping is used diagnostically to ensure that a host computer is actually operating.
Plug-in
Plug-in tools are programs that provide dynamic functionality to a Website while running from an external server with scripting capabilities. The applications are imbedded into HTML script and executing from an external server.
POP3
POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) is the most recent version of a standard protocol for receiving e-mail. POP3 is a client/server protocol in which e-mail is received and held for by the user's Internet server.
POP3 mail server
Post Office Protocol 3 A standard mail server commonly used on the Internet. It provides a message store that holds incoming e-mail until users log on and download it. POP3 is a simple system with little selectivity.
RAID
The acronym for RAID is "redundant array of independent disks." It a method of storing the same data in different places on multiple hard disks. By placing data on multiple disks, I/O operations can overlap in a balanced way, improving performance.
Record
A record, an alias or pointer is like a DNS entry. It points to an IP address. A record can be used for forwarding purposes to point one IP address to another.
Root directory
In a computer file system and is organized as a hierarchy or tree. The root directory is the directory that includes all other directories. In UNIX-based as well as in other operating systems, the root directory is not named. It represents the special character that separates directories in a file system, "/".
Router
A router is a device that determines the next network point to which a packet should be forwarded toward its destination on the Internet. A router is located at any gateway including each Internet point-of-presence.
Script
In computer programming, a script is a sequence of instructions that are carried or interpreted by another program.
Search Engine
The program that searches documents for specified keywords, a search engine returns a list of documents from the keyword query. Search engine is a general class of programs. The term is often used to describe systems like Google, Yahoo or Alta Vista.
Sendmail
On the Internet, sendmail is the most popular UNIX-based implementation of the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) for transmitting e-mail. When a sendmail server receives e-mail, it attempts to deliver the mail to the intended recipient immediately and, if the recipient is not present, it queues messages for later delivery. It does not provide a mailbox facility.
Shopping Cart
A shopping cart is a software program that acts as an online store's catalog and ordering process. A shopping cart is the interface between a company's Website and its infrastructure. It allows consumers to select merchandise, review their selections, make modify their order and purchase the merchandise.
SMTP server
The acronym for r Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is a protocol for sending electronic m between servers. Generally, most e-mail systems send mail over the Internet use SMTP to send messages from one server to another; the messages can be retrieved by an e-mail client using either POP or IMAP.
SQL (Pronunciation see-kwell)
The acronym of structured query language, and or as separate letters. SQL is a standardized query language for requesting information from a database. The original version called SEQUEL (structured English query language). In 1974, SEQUEL was designed by the IBM research center.
SSI
SSI stands for Server Side Include. It is a method of invoking script programs that run on the web server to perform some function and/or add information to a web page.
SSL
SSL (secure sockets layer) is a commonly-used protocol for managing the security of a message transmission on the Internet. SSL uses a program layer located between the Internet's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Transport Control Protocol (TCP) layers. SSL is included as part of both the Microsoft and Netscape browsers and most Web server products. SSL uses the public-and-private key encryption system from RSA, which also includes the use of a digital certificate.
Subdomain
An added prefix to an existing domain name; in example, support.swiftlane.com is a subdomain of Swiftlane.com.
URL
A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of a file (resource). It is accessible on the Internet. The type of resource is contingent upon the Internet application protocol. Using the protocol, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the resource can be an HTML page (like this one), an image file, a program such as a common gateway interface application or Java applet, or any other file supported by HTTP.
Virtual Hosting
On the Internet, virtual hosting is the provision of website hosting services. It enables companies or an entity to not purchase or maintain a server. As a result, virtual hosting maintains the website's connections to the Internet. A virtual hosting provider is sometimes called a Web or Internet "space provider, or a hosting provider like Swiftlane.com.
Web Server
A Web server is a program. It uses the client/server model and the World Wide Web's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that serves the file that formulates web pages to Web users. Any computer on the Internet that has a website must have a Web server program. The leading Internet servers are Apache and Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS).
Webcam
A digital video camera that is directly attached to a computer. A live cam is one that is continually features new images that are transmitted in rapid succession or, in certain cases in streaming video. Websites that offer live cams sometimes embed them as Java applets.
WYSIWYG (Pronunciation "wiz-ee-wig")
A WYSIWYG is acronym for "what you see is what you get." The program or editor allows an interface or content developer to create a graphical user interface (GUI) or page of text so that the developer can see what the end result will look like while the interface or document is in development.. A WYSIWYG editor can be contrasted with more traditional editors that require the developer to enter descriptive codes (or markup).
XML
The acronym for eXtensible Markup Language, XML is a pared-down version of SGML. Specifically designed for Web documents, XML allows designers to create their own customized tags, enabling the definition, validation, transmission, and interpretation of data between applications and between organizations.
