Web Hosting Glossary: The Jargon, Decoded

This is a plain-English glossary of the web hosting terms a sign-up page is most likely to throw at you, each defined in a sentence or two and grouped by where you meet it. It is meant to be scanned, not read start to finish — find the word you are stuck on and move on. If you are brand new to all of it, read what web hosting is first, then keep this page open as a reference while you shop.

The basics: addresses and getting online

These are the terms around your address and how visitors reach you.

Domain name — your website's address, like yoursite.com, leased yearly from a registrar. It points visitors to your hosting but is a separate product from it.

Registrar — the company you register a domain through. It reserves the name for you and lets you set where the domain points.

DNS — the Domain Name System, the internet's phone book. It translates your domain name into the server's numeric IP address so browsers can find it.

A record / nameservers — the DNS settings that connect a domain to a host. An A record points the domain at a server's IP address; nameservers hand the whole domain's DNS to a provider. Changes can take a day or two to spread.

IP address — the numeric address of a server (for example 192.0.2.10). DNS turns your domain name into this so the connection can be made.

Uptime / SLA — uptime is the share of time your site is online; an SLA is the host's promise of it. A 99.9% guarantee still allows about 43 minutes of downtime a month, and usually only refunds a credit if you notice and claim.

Servers and software

The machinery your host runs on your behalf — covered in depth in what is a web server.

Server — an always-on computer that stores your site and answers requests. Also used for the software that does the answering.

Apache / Nginx / LiteSpeed / IIS — web server programs. Apache and Nginx are the two most common; LiteSpeed is fast and popular on shared hosts; IIS runs on Windows hosting.

Database (MySQL / MariaDB) — where a dynamic site stores its content — posts, users, settings. WordPress needs one. MariaDB is a drop-in alternative to MySQL.

PHP — the programming language WordPress and many other tools are built in. Your host runs it to build pages on the fly. Newer PHP versions are faster, so a plan's PHP version matters.

Control panel (cPanel / Plesk) — the dashboard you manage hosting from. cPanel is the most common on Linux; Plesk is the main rival and runs on Windows too. WHM is the admin-side companion to cPanel for whole-server management.

FTP / SFTP / SSH — ways to connect to your hosting directly. FTP and its secure version SFTP transfer files; SSH is a secure command-line connection for advanced management.

Performance, limits and security

The numbers plans compete on, and the words that protect your site — with more detail in bandwidth and storage explained.

Bandwidth / storage — bandwidth is monthly data transfer to visitors; storage (disk space) is how much you can keep on the server. "Unlimited" versions are bounded by fair-use and file-count (inode) caps.

SSD / NVMe — fast solid-state storage now standard on good hosts. NVMe is the faster kind. Both beat old spinning hard drives for site speed.

Cache / CDN — a cache stores a ready-made copy of a page so the server does not rebuild it every time. A CDN (content delivery network) keeps copies in data centres worldwide so distant visitors load faster.

SSL / TLS / HTTPS — an SSL certificate (really TLS now) encrypts the connection and enables HTTPS and the padlock. A free one from Let's Encrypt is included by most hosts.

Backups / firewall / DDoS protection — backups are saved copies you can restore; a firewall (or WAF) blocks malicious traffic; DDoS protection absorbs floods of fake traffic meant to knock a site offline.

Plan types

The tiers you choose between, compared fully in types of web hosting.

Shared / VPS / cloud / dedicated — the four main tiers, from a slice of a crowded server (shared, cheapest) up to a whole machine (dedicated, priciest). A VPS is a guaranteed slice; cloud spreads you across many servers.

Managed / reseller — managed means the host runs the server for you; reseller hosting lets you sell hosting accounts to others under your own brand. Neither is a separate kind of server, just a way of packaging one.

Money and setup terms

The words you meet at checkout and during setup.

Intro vs renewal price — the intro (or promotional) price is the discounted rate for your first term; the renewal price is the standard rate you pay afterwards, often two to six times higher. The renewal price is your real long-term cost.

TLD — the top-level domain, the ending of a web address such as .com, .org or .co. Different TLDs cost different amounts to register and renew, but the ending does not affect speed or search ranking.

Migration / transfer — moving a site from one host to another (migration) or moving a domain between registrars (transfer). Many hosts offer free migration; keeping your domain portable makes both painless.

Staging site — a private copy of your live site where you can test changes safely before publishing them. Common on managed and higher-tier plans, and a genuine time-saver for anything more than a hobby site.

One-click installer — a tool (such as Softaculous) that installs software like WordPress in a couple of clicks, so you do not have to set up files and a database by hand. Standard on most shared hosting.

Addon / parked domain — an addon domain is a second, separate website hosted on the same account; a parked domain is an extra domain pointing at an existing site. How many a plan allows is one of the real limits worth checking.