ASP / .ASP (Active Server
Pages)
ASP has come to have numerous meanings in the technology/computing/internet world. ASP is
a term for application service provider, and is a new term meaning to provide a hosted
application. An application might be to run a virus application from a website which in
turn scours your local hard drive. The application is never installed on your machine.
Another might be to provide accounting or billing or warehouse software from a remote
location. Neotrope offers an e-commerce solution through its BlueSpin.com website that
works in this way ?you rent space as part of a larger application which we host. ".asp" can also refer to active server pages, an
outgrowth of server side includes and tag-based HTML extensions created by Microsoft and
used almost exclusively on Windows NT machines. A scripting language which allows you to
design Web pages that can make displaying, manipulating and editing databases simpler.
Backbone
A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. On
the Internet there are several major backbone providers like BBN Internet ,
MCI/SprintLink, and US West.
Bandwidth
Amount of data you can send through a connection. Usually measured in bits-per-second
(bps). A 56K modem transfers data up to 53Kbps, or 53,000 bits-per-second. Terms is also
sometimes used in place of "data transfer."
CGI (Common Gateway Interface)
A set of rules that describe how a Web Server communicates with another piece of software
on the same machine
CGI-Bin Access
Ability for the customer to write custom programs to manipulate data on their Web site.
Client
Any software application (and sometimes used to describe the computer itself) connected to
the server and run to send/retrieve data to a server is called a client, such as a web
browser. This relationship between the "client" and the "server" is
often referred to as a "client server relationship."
Co-location
Refers to having a server that belongs to one group physically located on an
Internet-connected network that belongs to another group. Usually done because the server
owner wants their machine to be on a high-speed Internet connection and/or they do not
want the security risks of having the server on thier own network.
Custom Error Messages
Refers to the ability to create custom pages on a hosting account to replace default 404
and other error pages.
Datacenter
See NOC.
Data Transfer
This is the amount of data that you are allowed to transfer with your account. Data is
this case usually referrs to images and text. Typically refers to a data transfer
allotment, most often in GB (gigabytes). Thus, a hosting plan might come with, "3GB
of data transfer." 500 MB of data transfer is equivilant to about 25,000 page views.
Dial-up Account
To access and update a Web site, hosting customers need dial-up access to the Internet
(see ISP). Techically, xDSL would still be considered a dial-up account since you don't
have a dedicated wire for data transfer.
Disk Space (Storage Space)
Amount of hard disk space available for storage of all Web pages, HTML, CGI-bin programs,
e-mail, log files, images, sound clips, audio, video clips, etc. 1MB equals one megabyte,
or approximately milllion bytes. A 100K file would be 100,000 bytes.
Domain Name
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.
Domain Name Registration
Refers to registering a name which can be used for hosting a domain name, such as
www.yourname.com.
DS-3
Connection to Internet Backbone favored by most medium-size Web hosting providers. More
than 28 times the bandwidth of a T-1 connection.
Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce)
Allows Website customers to sell products and services online and accept payment at the
same time, usually through a cgi-script of some kind.
E-Mail Aliases/Forwarders
E-mail forwarders and aliases are e-mail addresses such as billing@yourdomain.com which do
not have a username/password as a "POP" account would. Instead, you would set up
billing@yourdomain.com to forward to a real POP account such as
customerservice@yourdomain.com. The only real distinction between an alias and a forward,
is than an alias will likely forward to another existing account at the same domain,
whereas a forward might be sent to another e-mail account with an ISP: such as
cs@yourdomain.com being forwarded to cs@gte.net or similar.
E-Mail Autoresponders/Vacation Messages
Allow customers to set up an automatic message to respond to anyone who sends email to the
customer.
File Extensions
In the DOS/Windows computer world, and UNIX as well, almost every file (anything on your
computer that isn't a folder is a file in this context) must have some kind of extension.
Example: index.htm would be a filename, where ".htm" is the file extension. On a
PC in particular the operating system needs an extesion in order to determine what kind of
file it is, and what to do with it when it is activated. With the internet, you may see
extensions like .exe, .cgi, .asp, .htm, .jsp, .cfm, .tam, .php, .shtml, .pl, and many
others. It is important to note that in some cases you have to be aware of the proper
extension to use for a file depending on the environment in which the file will be used.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
Short for "file transfer protocol," FTP is a method for transferring data
to/from web servers via a slightly different method than used by web browsers (which use
the http method). FTP software is used to upload files to your virtual, shared, or
dedicated web server site. FTP can also be used for direct downloads of files and images
from a web server without being served from the public html directory (anonymous FTP). FTP
access to a web server requires a password and username in order to gain access to the
file/folder directories of a virtual domain.
FrontPage2000
Microsoft's FrontPage 2000 software is a Web site development software package. It uses
unique Microsoft file types (often referred to as "Microsoft extensions"). A Web
server and virtual domain must be configured to accept these extensions.
FTP Client
Software needed by the customer to upload content files to their Web site.
FTP Site/Anonymous FTP
Anonymous FTP is a dedicated area on a virtual or dedicated hosting domain for download of
files, and even upload of files to an "incoming" folder. FTP is a special way to
login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files.
Home Page
The first page in the public directory of a domain, usually index.php. Called thome page
because it's the first page that loads from a Website.
Hosting Provider
An institution that provides Web space to companies or individuals, usually for money.
HTML
Hyper-Text Markup Language. The basic page instruction language used to create web pages.
Far easier for basic pages to use than some might think because many commands are simple
such as "" for bold text. It can be more complex as you get into newer versions
which allow for floating layers, tables, style sheets, and features which don't work
across all web browsers.
HyperText
Text which links to other content by being an in-context link. The basis of the original
text-only internet page structure. Any word can be a link to another page, idea, image or
internet site, thus the "hyper" in the term. The actual link is called a
"hyper link."
IP Address
Internet Protocol address. A number analagous to a street address on the Web. See IP
Number. When the internet was invented many years ago, there needed to be a way to
identify one computer from another. The "IP" or "internet protocol"
address has been used since then. In fact many corporate networks assign IPs to desktop
computers without the employee knowing that they've been using Internet related technology
for years, whether connected to the internet or not. When a Web server is setup, it has
its own IP address to identify itself on the local network. Each virtual server is given
its own static (non-changing) IP address as if it were its own machine.
IP Number (Internet Protocol Number)
Sometimes called a dotted quad. A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots,
e.g. 64.65.58.113
IPP
Internet Presence Provider. Another name for a hosting provider.
ISP
Internet Service Provider (see Dial-Up access). An ISP is a service provider who creates
the connection from your home or office to the Internet. It's how you connect. Your ISP
does not need to be your hosting provider, or vice versa. This generally refers to how you
access the internet with your computer. Specifically, it is the company you signed up with
and where you "dial in" to connect to the web. If you have an account with
Earthlink, then your ISP will be Earthlink.
Majordomo
An open-source server-based mailing list system, sometimes called a "reflector"
or "list server" (ListServ is actually a similar product) because any message
sent by a member to the list is re-sent ("reflected") to all the other list
subscribers.
Megabyte (MB)
A million bytes. (Technically, actually 1024 kilobytes).
NOC (Network Operation Center)
Sometimes called a Datacenter. This is the term for a secure, managed network environment
which may house tens or thousands of Web servers with power backup and high-speed
connections to the Internet Backbone. NOCs usually have a mixture of OC-3 and DS-3
connections, or higher (i.e., OC12).
NT/WINDOWS NT
The name used by Microsoft for its business class operating system, called Windows NT (for
"new technology"). Windows NT includes a rudimentary web server system, and
other tools used to create local networks. Windows NT is useful for creating low-cost
websites because NT will run on inexpensive hardware and has familiar tools to Windows
95/98 users. However, in practice, it has been found to be about as buggy as Windows
itself, and is shunned by many web hosting purists because of its unreliablity relative to
the more expensive UNIX hardware/software platform. Neotrope no longer offers WindowsNT
hosting services, although we can recommend dedicated hosting providers who do.
OC-3
Ultra-fast connectivity for their mission-critical Internet needs, ranging from 60- 155
Mbps of service. Up to 3 times more bandwidth capability than a T-3.
POP (E-MAIL)
A protocol used to retrieve e-mail from a mail server. Most e-mail applications (sometimes
called an e-mail client) use the POP protocol, although some can use the newer IMAP
(Internet Message Access Protocol) or APOP. POP stands for "post office
protocol" not your dear old dad. A "pop" account is any real e-mail account
which uses a password and username to retrieve mail from a virtual server. The username
would be yourname@yourdomain.com and the password would usually be a mixture of letters
and numbers.
Primary DNS
The Primary Domain Name Server for the customer's domain. These are the DNS IP numbers,
usually preceeded by "ns.name.com" and "ns2.name.com" and a domain
must point at a DNS for it to "resolve" to a local virtual location.
Secure Server (SSL)
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol. Requires use of a certificate for secure access. A
Secure Socket Layer does not provide for credit card clearing or any other form of payment
processing. It only provides a facility for secure transactions across the Internet. Some
hosting providers allow use of a "shared" certificate.
Server
In a modern computing environment there are usually two kinds of computer classifications
when more than one is connected together to create a network. The server is the computer
which provides data and is the central repository, and/or gatekeeper between multiple
"client" computers. A server can also be called a "host" because it
hosts the data "served" to "clients."
Server Side Includes
Server side includes (or SSI) is a set of tags which can be used within HTML pages to be
replaced by something else, added ("included") by the server. An example might
be that you have one file with copyright information which goes on the bottom of every
page. By using a SSI tag, you could tell the server to replace every tag on every page
with the copyright information. The benefit is that you could have one file containing the
copyright information that gets placed on hundreds of pages on your site. By updating the
single page, all the others are instantly updated when loaded by the server. On most
servers you must use a filename extension of ".shtml" in order for SSI tags to
operate.
Shell Account
A UNIX shell account to their shared server Web site, allows a customers to update their
Web site content using Telnet.
T-1
A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 1,544,000 bits-per-second. At maximum
theoretical capacity, a T-1 line could move a megabyte in less than 10 seconds. That is
still not fast enough for full-screen, full-motion video, for which you need at least
10,000,000 bits-per-second.
T-3
A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits-per-second. This is
more than enough to do full-screen, full-motion video.
Telnet
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.
Transfer
Total amount of data transferred from the customer's Web site to clients. Includes all
HTML, Web pages, images, sounds, videos, etc. See Data Transfer.
UNIX
An operating system used on business-class computers typically used as "servers"
which serve databases, websites, or other corporate applications. UNIX has numerous
variants including IRIX (SGI), Solaris (Sun), and derivitives including Linux, Apple OSX,
and others.
URL (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). A URL looks like this: http://www.NeotropeHosting.com/index.shtml
Virtual Hosting
Virtual hosting describes a remote web server which is "host" to numerous domain
names, where each domain name owner has all of the features of having a dedicated (on
site) server. Virtual hosting provides for most of the same features of a dedicated server
but is located in a high speed dedicated data center costing millions of dollars. The cost
to maintain a virtual server for each site owner is a fraction of the cost of a dedicated
server, with most of the benefits.
Web Server
A computer, or a software package, 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 Apache or WebStar) or to the machine on which the software is running.
Web Site
A Web site is a collection of Web pages that reside together on the World Wide Web and are
connected. Web site also refers to the server space allocated to a specific customer in a
shared "virtual" server environment. NeotropeHosting.com would be a "Web
site," while the page you are reading now would be a "Web page."
Web Site Traffic Reporting
Reporting software to provide information such as the frequency of hits, page views,
amount of data transfer, and total transfer sizes. Popular reporting tools include Analog,
Webalizer, and WebTrends.
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