A service that stores a website's files on a server and keeps them reachable on the internet 24/7, so typing a domain name loads the site instead of an error.
Many customer accounts running on the same physical server, each with its own slice of CPU and memory. It's the cheapest way to host a typical site, since the hardware cost is split across everyone on it.
A slice of a physical server walled off with dedicated resources and root access — more control than shared hosting, less overhead than renting a whole machine. See our guide on choosing between shared and VPS hosting.
An entire physical server rented by one customer alone, nothing shared with anyone else. Used when even a VPS doesn't provide enough control or raw resources.
Hosting spread across a cluster of connected servers instead of a single machine. If one server in the cluster has a problem, the site keeps running on the others.
The percentage of time a server stays reachable over a given period. A 99.9% monthly commitment works out to roughly 43 minutes of allowed unplanned downtime — see our SLA for how that's actually enforced.
The dashboard for managing a hosting account without touching a command line: files, databases, email accounts, backups, and domain settings, all in one interface. More in logging into your control panel.
The human-readable address typed into a browser, like hostyxo.com, that DNS translates into the numeric server address a computer actually connects to.
A server that answers DNS queries for a domain, holding all of its records. Which nameservers a domain points to determines who's actually in control of its DNS.
The system that translates domain names into server IP addresses — the internet's directory, so a browser knows where to send a request. A full breakdown lives in our DNS records guide.
A DNS record that points a domain or subdomain directly to a server's IPv4 address. This is the record that makes a domain actually resolve to a hosting server.
A DNS record that points one hostname to another hostname rather than an IP address — commonly used to make www.example.com follow example.com automatically.
How long, in seconds, other servers are allowed to cache a DNS record before rechecking it. It's the reason DNS changes take a while to fully propagate rather than applying instantly everywhere.
The public record system for domain registrations — who registered a domain, which registrar it's with, and its creation and expiry dates. Try it yourself with our free WHOIS lookup.
Encrypts the connection between a browser and a server, shown as the padlock icon and the switch from http:// to https://. More in SSL certificates explained simply.
The encrypted version of HTTP, the protocol browsers use to load websites. The S specifically means the connection is secured with an SSL/TLS certificate.
A security layer that filters incoming network traffic against a set of rules, blocking connections that look malicious before they ever reach the server.
Software written to damage, exploit, or gain unauthorized access to a system. Viruses, ransomware, and spyware are all specific categories under this umbrella.
Short for distributed denial-of-service: flooding a server with traffic from many sources at once, aiming to overwhelm it so real visitors can't get through.
A saved copy of a website's files and database from a specific point in time, kept so the site can be restored if something goes wrong. Our WordPress backups guide covers manual and automated options.
A set of servers spread across different regions that cache a copy of a site's static content, so a visitor's browser loads it from whichever server is geographically closest rather than one server on the other side of the world.
Storing a ready-to-serve copy of a page or file so it doesn't have to be rebuilt from scratch on every visit — one of the biggest single levers for page speed. See speeding up your site with caching.
The delay between a request being sent and a response starting to arrive, largely driven by the physical distance between a visitor and the server they're connecting to.
A protocol for reading email that keeps messages synced on the server, so the same mailbox looks identical whether checked from a phone, webmail, or a desktop client.
Protocols for transferring files to and from a server. SFTP does the same job as FTP but encrypts the connection, which is why it's the one actually worth using.
A relational database system that stores structured data. WordPress, for instance, keeps every post, page, and setting in a MySQL database, not in the theme files themselves.
A command scheduled to run automatically at set intervals — maintenance scripts and scheduled tasks that shouldn't depend on a visitor loading a page first. Examples in handy cPanel tricks worth knowing.
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