Hosting jargon in plain language

A

A record

DNS record that points a domain to an IPv4 address.

AAAA record

DNS record that points a domain to an IPv6 address.

Apache

The classic open-source web server. We run mostly LiteSpeed but Apache works too.

Auth code (EPP)

The unlock code your registrar gives you to transfer a domain to another provider.

B

Backup

A copy of your site and data, stored off-server, that can be restored.

Bandwidth

Data transferred from your site to visitors. We meter at the network edge.

BGP

Border Gateway Protocol — how networks announce routes on the internet. Used for our anycast DNS.

C

Cache

A pre-computed copy of content that loads faster than re-rendering. Server-level beats plugin-level.

CDN

Content Delivery Network — copies of your static files served from the edge node nearest your visitor.

cPanel

A popular hosting control panel. We support both cPanel and DirectAdmin.

CNAME

DNS record that points one hostname to another. www→root is the classic example.

Core Web Vitals

Google's three speed metrics: LCP, FID/INP, CLS. Affect ranking.

Cron job

A scheduled task that runs on the server (every 5 min, daily, weekly).

D

DDoS

Distributed Denial-of-Service — flooding a site with junk traffic to take it offline.

Dedicated IP

An IPv4 address used by only your site/server. Required for some SSL types.

Dedicated server

A whole physical server for one customer. Max performance, max responsibility.

DirectAdmin

A lighter, faster alternative to cPanel. Popular in Europe.

DKIM

Digital signature on outbound mail — helps you stay out of spam.

DMARC

A policy that tells receiving mailservers what to do when SPF/DKIM fail.

DNS

Domain Name System — translates human-readable names into IP addresses.

DPA

Data Processing Agreement — Article 28 GDPR contract between you and a processor.

E

EPP code

Same as Auth code — the secret token needed to transfer a domain.

F

Free SSL

An SSL certificate at no cost. Let's Encrypt powers most free SSL today.

G

GDPR / AVG

EU data-protection law. We help you stay compliant — see our DPA.

Greylisting

A spam-fighting technique: temporarily reject unknown mail; legit senders retry.

H

HSTS

HTTP Strict Transport Security — tells browsers to never use HTTP for your domain.

HTTPS

Encrypted version of HTTP. Required for SEO and trust.

I

IMAP

Modern email protocol that keeps mail on the server, syncs across devices.

IOPS

Input/Output operations per second. NVMe gives 10x what SATA SSD gives.

L

LiteSpeed

A fast web server with built-in caching that often replaces Apache.

LCP

Largest Contentful Paint — when the largest visible content appears. Aim under 2.5s.

M

Mailbox

Server-side storage tied to an email address ([email protected]).

MX record

DNS record that points mail traffic to the right mail server.

N

Nameserver

A server that answers DNS questions for your domain. ns1.cernet.host etc.

NVMe

The fastest storage type in modern hosting. ~10x SATA SSD throughput.

P

PHP

The programming language powering WordPress, Laravel, and most of the web.

POP3

Legacy email protocol — downloads mail and deletes from server. Use IMAP instead.

PUE

Power Usage Effectiveness — how efficiently a data centre uses electricity. Lower is better.

R

Registrar

An ICANN-accredited company that registers domains on your behalf.

RDNS / PTR

Reverse DNS — converts an IP back to a hostname. Important for mail deliverability.

Reseller hosting

A plan where you sell sub-accounts to your own clients under your own brand.

S

SFTP

Secure FTP — file transfer over SSH. Always use this, never plain FTP.

Shared hosting

Multiple sites on one server, sharing resources. Cheapest, fine for small traffic.

Slug

The URL-friendly part of a page address: yoursite.com/this-is-the-slug

SLA

Service Level Agreement — a promise about uptime with credit if missed.

SMTP

The protocol for sending email between mail servers.

SPF

Sender Policy Framework — DNS record listing servers allowed to send for your domain.

SSD

Solid State Drive — much faster than traditional spinning disks. NVMe is the fast kind.

SSH

Secure Shell — encrypted command-line access to a server.

SSL / TLS

The encryption that powers HTTPS. TLS is the modern name; people still say SSL.

Staging

A copy of your site where you can test changes without affecting the live site.

Subdomain

A prefix to your domain: blog.yoursite.com, shop.yoursite.com.

T

TLD

Top-Level Domain — the .com, .nl, .io part of a domain name.

TTFB

Time To First Byte — how long the server takes to start responding. Under 200ms is good.

TXT record

A free-form DNS record. Used for SPF, DMARC, domain verification.

U

Uptime

The percentage of time your site is reachable. We target 99.99% on Cloud, 99.9% on shared.

V

VPS

Virtual Private Server — a dedicated slice of a physical server, with root access.

W

WAF

Web Application Firewall — blocks known attacks (SQL injection, XSS) before they hit your code.

Webmail

Reading your mailbox through a browser instead of an app.

WHOIS

A public lookup that shows the registrant of a domain. WHOIS privacy hides your details.

WHM

Web Host Manager — the admin layer above cPanel, used by resellers.

WP-CLI

Command-line tool for WordPress. Faster than the dashboard for bulk tasks.

Wildcard SSL

An SSL certificate that covers unlimited sub-domains of one root domain.

X

XSS

Cross-Site Scripting — an attack that injects malicious JavaScript into your site.

Z

Zone file

A text file containing all DNS records for a domain. Edited via your control panel.