Glossary of Hosting Terms

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Access to your Web Account:
Using the WebsiteOS and a connection to the internet, you can access your web account anytime day or night. Once your account has been setup we will e-mail your information (passwords, usernames, etc.) to you. At that point you will be in full control of your website and web account.

Active Server Pages (ASP)
Microsoft Active Server Page (ASP) is a server-side scripting technology that can be used to create dynamic and interactive Web applications. An ASP page is an HTML page that contains server-side scripts that are processed by a web server before being sent to the user's browser. You can combine ASP with Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) to create powerful interactive Web sites.

ASP is a feature of the Microsoft Internet Information Server. Since the server-side script is building a regular HTML page, it can be served to almost any browser. An ASP file can be created by including a script written in VBScript or JScript in an HTML file.

Ad Server
An ad server allows you to place rotating banner advertisements on your website, manage your advertising clients, and to collect statistics on banner views and "click throughs."

Administration Tools
This function allows you to view a list of issued mail administration commands. To view the EasyMail command history, click the"History" tab and the "EasyMail History" will be displayed. To close the EasyMail, click the "OK" button. This feature is useful for tracking your work if a command is issued by mistake or if there is more than one person administering your mail.

Announcer
Announcer is an easy way for you to keep your customers or friends up-to-date with what's new and exciting on your website.

Custom CGI
Ask For Hosting has pre-built custom CGI scripts for you to use for your site. Abbreviation for "Common Gateway Interface". This is an interface standard which provides a method of executing a server-side program (script) from a website to generate a webpage with dynamic content. Scripts conforming to this standard may be written in any programming language that produces an executable file, but are most often written in Perl, Python, C, C++, or TCL.

CGI-BIN
Abbreviation for "Common Gateway Interface". This is an interface standard which provides a method of executing a server-side program (script) from a website to generate a webpage with dynamic content. Scripts conforming to this standard may be written in any programming language that produces an executable file, but are most often written in Perl, Python, C, C++, or TCL.

CGI Plugin In Scripts
This is a feature for our customers who want to use pre-written CGI scripts such as FormMail or TextCounter. Plug-in scripts will be continuously added to the system.

CGI Form Mail
The FormMail script is a universal form to an email gateway. Use this script if you want to have a form's contents emailed to you, but aren't sure how to write the code for it.

Database Manager
Database Manager is a web based MySQL client that allows you to create and manipulate a maximum of two MySQL databases.

Database Manager is designed for advanced users. Knowledge of relational databases and SQL is required in order to use this Database Manager efficiently.

Database Manager is best used for creating databases and tables. For populating a database, you should consider using a script(PHP, ColdFusion) or CGI.

Database Manager builds SQL statements from the various options that you select. This is the reason for the "Build SQL Query" button. Viewing the Query gives you an opportunity to review the query before running it. Clicking the "Run SQL Query" button submits the query to the SQL server.

Disk Usage Meter
The "Disk Usage" function reports the disk space usage of your website. It provides a listing of each directory and the amount of space used. The report is in plain text and can be cut and pasted for printing.

Domain Manager
The Domain Manager is a help web-based application that stores user information for registered domain names. Using the Domain Manager you can edit billing information, manage name servers, change domain passwords, and more.

EasyMail Accounts
The "EasyMail" function allows you to manage your domain's email accounts. EasyMail setup is a full featured accessory that allows a novice user to easily configure various email account features. These accounts can be accessed by traditional mail reading clients as well as over the web with WebMail.

EasySiteWizard
The EasySiteWizard is a robust tool that allows you to quickly create a professional looking website with no knowledge of HTML. Your website can have up to nine pages and can be customized to meet your needs.

Self-Administered Email Accounts
Using the WebsiteOS you can add, delete, and configure multiple e-mail accounts without the help of a sytem administrators.

Email Data Transfer:
Email Data Transfer is the amount of data that is transferred when receiving/sending email messages.

File Manager
The File Manager function allows you to take full control of your website files. It is a safe alternative to full shell access for sophisticated users. You can copy, move, delete, rename and edit files, create and remove directories, change file permissions and upload files from your local computer to the server.

File Manager is best used to manipulate files that have been previously uploaded to your website. To upload more than one file at a time, an FTP client is generally more efficient.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
FTP is an Internet standard for transferring files over the Internet. FTP programs and utilities are used to upload and download webpages, graphics, and other files from your hard drive to a remote server which allows FTP access.

FrontPage 2002 Extensions
Server extensions allow your site to use Microsoft FrontPage specific components like form submission and shared borders.

GuestBook
A "guest book" is a script on a webpage with a form which allows website visitors to "sign in" and leave comments or questions, which optionally may or may not be viewed by other visitors.

Hit Counter
Counts and records "hits" made to your site. Any request made to the server which is logged is considered a "hit". The requests can be for any resource: HTML pages, graphic images, audio files, cgi scripts, etc. Each valid line in the server log is counted as a hit. This number represents the total number of requests that were made to the server during the specified report period.

Log File Management Tool
The Log Manager allows you to obtain raw server logs about your site activity and traffic. You can view and/or delete, print, download, and date your log files. You may disable logging altogether to conserve your disk space.

Your server logs can also be downloaded for use with other statistics packages.

You can use the Web Stats function to analyze and view your log files in an easy-to-read, graphical display. While Log Manager allows you to manage your log files and view them in their raw state, Web Stats makes them human readable.

Access to Log Files
Log Files are stats that keep track of what pages and areas of your site that users are visiting. Using Web Stats and the Log Manager you can download, view, manage and delete your log files.

MySQL Database
MySQL is an Open Source Database, designed for speed, power and precision in mission critical, heavy load use.

MS ACCESS Database
Microsoft Access (usually abbreviated as MS Access) is an easy-to-use program for creating and maintaining databases. The Access database driver for online databases is often supported by webhosts using the NT hosting platform.

MS-SQL
MS-SQL (Microsoft SQL) Extensive database programming capabilities built on Web standards. Rich XML and Internet standard support give you the ability to store and retrieve data in XML format easily with built-in stored procedures. You can also use XML updategrams to insert, update and delete data easily.

Multiple T3 Connections:
A leased-line connection to the Internet which can transfer data at 44.736 Mbps. It is used mainly by ISPs (Internet Service Providers) connecting to the Internet backbone. A T-3 line contains 672 individual channels, each of which can transfer data at 64 Kbps. T3 lines are also called DS3 lines.

24/7 Network Monitoring
Our network technicians work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week monitoring the web severs contains your web site ensuring that your site is always running and never offline.

NT and UNIX Support
Windows NT is Microsoft's 32-bit operating system developed from what was originally intended to be OS/2 3.0 before Microsoft and IBM ceased joint development of OS/2. Used by web hosting companies in the network environment to offer customers support for Microsoft base products such as MS Access, MS SQL 7.0, and FrontPage 2002.

PHP
A server-side scripting language. The PHP commands, which are embedded in the web page's HTML, are executed on the web server to generate dynamic HTML pages.

Real Audio and Video
A client-server software system and file format(s) by Real Networks that allows Internet users to play audio and/or video-based multimedia content in real-time as they are being downloaded (called "streaming media"), instead of the user having to download the complete file before being able to play it.

RAID Disk Space
RAID is a way of storing the same data in different places by placing data on multiple hard disks. By placing data on multiple disks operations can overlap in a balanced way, improving performance.

Search Engine
The Search Engine plugin script allows you to add an indexing and searching system to your domain. Both HTML documents and plain text files can be searched by this search engine.

Free Shopping Carts
EasyStoreMaker, an advanced website tool, is useful for customers interested in building and maintaining an ecommerce site. EasyStoreMaker comes in two versions which are described below.

EasyStoreMaker allows you to create a fully secure online store in just a few minutes! This powerful e-commerce tool allows for an unlimited number of products and creates an unlimited number of SKUs for easy tracking of your items.

EasyStoreMaker PRO has all the same benefits as EasyStoreMaker only it allows greater customization and real time credit card processing!

Miva Merchant is also available.

Secure Server SSL Manager
Abbreviation for "Secure Sockets Layer". SSL is a transaction security standard that provides data encryption, server authentication, and message integrity. SSL is usually used on sites that accept credit card numbers or other private information. The SSL Manager application will help you set up SSL security for your web site. This application will allow you to choose between using our generic SSL certificate or creating one of your own.

Site Building Tool
The Site Building Tool contains valuable individual tools such as ASP/CFM Enabler, Business Card Builder, Frontpage Manager, Free Plug-in Scripts, Webmaster Tools and the EasySiteWizard. Whether you're new to the web or a seasoned pro, each of these tools can help develop your online identity quick and easily.

Robust Site Management Tool
WebsiteOS is a browser based application that allows you to manage many aspects of your website from any computer connected to the Internet, anytime, anywhere!

Free Technical Support:
Ask For Hosting customers enjoy 24/7 support with a technician via phone, email or online real time chat.

Support for Real Time Credit Card Processing
Does your site require credit card transactions? Ask For Hosting websites support real time credit card processing, secure transactions and more!

Over 3100 Advanced Templates
Choose from over 3100 advanced designer templates ranging from your basic web site to flash.

Text Counter
TextCounter script allows you to include a text counter on any page of your web site.

UNIX
UNIX, a computer operating system (the basic software running on a computer, underneath things like word processors and spreadsheets). UNIX is designed to be used by many people at the same time (it is multi-user) and has TCP/IP built-in. It is the most common operating system for servers on the Internet.

99.9% Uptime Guarantee
Because of our 24/7 Network Monitoring, we can guarantee that your web site will be up and running 99.99% of the time. This means your views can always view your site day or night.

Web Data Transfer:
Data Transfer is the amount of data that is accessed by visitors to your site. An average web page is 15k to 20k in file size. The bigger your website is and the amount of visitors you plan to have to your site will regulate how much data is transferred.

Web Site Promotion Wizard
The Web Site Promote Wizard function allows you to promote your site by automatically sending promotion material to the top search engines.

Web Space:
The amount of space reserved for your website on a server. Typical 10 to 20 page websites are about 2-3 Megs. Larger website like e-commerce stores are much larger in size.

Web Stats
Web Stats is a web server log file analysis program. It produces usage statistics from your website's server logs. The statistical results are presented in both columnar and graphical format. Yearly, monthly, daily and hourly usage statistics are presented, along with the ability to display usage by site, URL, referrer, user agent (browser) and country.

Webmail
The ability to access your EasyMail accounts over the Internet using a web browser.

WebSite Checker
The WebSite Checker function allows you to view the structure of your website, check your pages for broken links, list links pointing to external sites, view your website images, get a run-down of problems sorted by author, locate pages that may be slow to download, show new and old pages, give pages that have no title and show links that are not checked.

Windows® Services
The Windows Services enabler allows you to use ASP or ASP.NET and ColdFusion or ColdFusion MX files on your domain. Our servers will serve your ASP or ASP.NET and ColdFusion or ColdFusion MX files correctly only after you enable the appropriate service on your domain. ColdFusion and ColdFusion MX is a scripting language for interfacing databases and advanced web development. ColdFusion supports databases such as Microsoft Access, FoxPro, dBASE, and Paradox.

If you have an SSL certificate installed on your domain, you can also enable secure ASP or ASP.NET and secure ColdFusion or ColdFusion MX using the ASP/CFM Enabler.