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Jargon ~

Confused by Jargon ~ Here's some jargon busting basics...

Authenticate - To verify the identity of an Internet user or computer or person. For example, Web server certificates help authenticate the Internet site or merchant.

Co-location Hosting - A hosting arrangement in which the client owns the PC that is running their eBusiness, but the PC is located at an ISPs data centre where the ISP is responsible for day-to-day management of the PC

Cryptography - The process of scrambling and unscrambling information so that only the intended parties can read it. For example, when you send your payment data over the Internet for a purchase, cryptography can prevent everyone but the intended merchant from reading your credit card number and card expiration date

Dedicated Hosting - A hosting arrangement in which the merchant pays the Internet Service Provider to host their eBusiness on a dedicated server or PC (no other web sites are running on the server)

DNS - The Domain Name System is how the Internet links together the thousands of Networks the Web comprises. Each computer on the Internet has one or more Domain Names such as "www.mycompany.com". Most popular top level domains include:
com.au - Used for Commercial and personal sites
edu.au - Educational institution
gov.au - Government organizations
net.au - Typically used by Internet infrastructures organizations
org.au - Used by Non-profit organization
 

Domain Name - A unique name that represents each computer on the Internet (eg. www.mycompany.com). The DNS converts the domain name requested by an Internet user into a numeric IP Address (the IP stands for Internet Protocol) which will be used by Internet communication equipment to locate the desired site on the Internet.

Encryption - The process of converting data into "unreadable code" so that only the intended recipients can understand the content. Encryption is necessary as sensitive information is often sent from one computer to another via the public Internet. It provides a degree of security should the information fall into the wrong hands

Homepage - The opening Web page for a Web site or eBusiness. This is the first thing consumers will see when they come to your Web site. It should contain an introduction to your business and links to other information available on your Web site.

Hosting - Getting someone else to run your web site and connect it to the Internet. Merchants typically use Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to host their eBusiness

HTML - HyperText Mark-up Language. The text-based language used to construct web pages, interpreted by web browsers.

HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol. The standard way browsers and Internet sites communicate on the Internet. When you click on a link, you are sending a request to see that file (or information) to the http protocol on the computer hosting the web site. The file is then transmitted to your web browser.

Hyperlink - A highlighted, underlined phrase or word on a web page that can be clicked to go to another part of the page or even to another web site.

Internet Service Provider (ISP) - Companies that specialize in providing Internet Access and web hosting services for merchants and other companies

IP - Also known as TCP/IP, IP stands for Internet Protocol and is the standard way computers communicate on the Internet.

Java - An Internet programming language used by those building web sites. Java programs are referred to as applets. Java applets are usually small in size and can be downloaded from the Internet and executed as part of the web page.

Payment gateway - Software or service that transmits credit card transaction information (eg. credit card number, purchase amount, credit card expiry date, etc.) from the merchants eBusiness into the credit card processing networks (owned by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discovery etc) for approval.

Payment processor - Company that accepts credit card and other payment transaction information from merchants and passes it along, in the accepted format, into the credit card processing network for approval. Payment processors often provide many other services to merchants such as credit card transaction reports, and help reconcile credit card transactions.

SSL - Secure Sockets Layer. A security standard used to create a secure encrypted session between the user's browser and the Web site they are communicating with. Merchants use SSL to protect the safety, privacy, and reliability of payment data travelling over the Internet. Web server certificates are required to create an SSL session.

Virtual Hosting - A hosting arrangement in which the merchant's eBusiness is hosted (or run) on the same PC or server as many other merchant's eBusinesses. This is usually the lowest cost hosting offered by ISPs

Web Server certificates - Digital certificates that enable a merchant's eBusiness to establish Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) sessions with a consumer's browser. These digital certificates are unique to each merchant and are installed on the merchant's server or PC.

Web Hosting Glossary - Common Hosting Terms

Apache - A very popular open source web hosting software, available for numerous platforms.

Bandwidth - The amount of data traffic that can or is transported from one computer to another.

BIND - Berkeley Internet Name Domain is an implementation of the Domain Name System (DNS) protocol.

Co-lo - Co-location, refers to an agreement that sees a client owned server hosted in an ISP's data center.

Daemon - An application or utility that runs in the background on the server.

DNS - Domain name system, turns domain names in to IP addresses.

Domain name - An alpha-numeric combination that can be used instead of IP addresses.

Enom - An ICAAN registered domain name registrar.

Fantastico - An integrated application that allows web hosting clients to automatically install popular scripts.

FrontPage - A Microsoft web development application

Managed Hosting - A web hosting service where the provider supports the daily upkeep of the server, including activities like updates and patches.

MySQL - An open source application of a SQL server that is quite popular with numerous web hosts.

NameServer - Converts domain names into appropriate IP addresses and vice versa.

NOC - Network Operations Center.

Overselling - When a web host sells more space, bandwidth or CPU cycles than they have at their disposal, with the belief that the customers won't actually use them all.

PERL - Practical Extraction and Reporting Language, is a programming language frequently used for creating CGI programs for web use.

PHP - An open-source, server-side scripting language used to create dynamic web pages.

phpMyAdmin - A web based application to manage MySQL databases.

RedHat - A commercial Linux distribution, popular amongst web hosts.

Reseller - A webhost who resells web space off of a shared server with other resellers.

SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.

Squirrelmail - A web based e-mail program.

SSL - Secure Socket Layer is a protocol that transmits data in an encrypted form.

Terabyte - 1024 Gigbytes worth of storage or bandwidth.

TLD - Top Level Domain, like .com, .ca, .org

VLAN - Virtual Local Area Network.

VPS - Virtual Private Server is a software based private server hosted in a shared environment.

Whois - A universal database maintained by registries and registrars with domain contact information.