Click on a letter of the alphabet to jump to that part of the glossary. Don't see it in our list of definitions? Try searching for it. If we don't have it, send your question to us.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
| A - | Back to top |
| Apache | A public-domain Web server developed by a loosely-knit group of
programmers. The first version of Apache, based on the NCSA httpd Web server,
was developed in 1995. Because it was developed from existing NCSA code plus various
patches, it was called a patchy server - hence the name Apache Server. As a result of its sophisticated features, excellent performance, and low price (it's free), Apache has became the world's most popular Web server. By some estimates, it is used to host more than 50% of all Web sites in the world. Core development of the Apache Web server is performed by a group of about 20 volunteer programmers, called the Apache Group. However, because the source code is freely available, anyone can adapt the server for specific needs, and there is a large public library of Apache add-ons. In many respects, development of Apache is similar to development of the Linux operating system. The original version of Apache was written for UNIX, but there are now versions that run under OS/2, Windows and other platforms. |
| ASCII | FTP transfer mode. This mode is used when transferring ascii text files such as web pages (.htm, .html), system files (htpasswd, .htaccess) and other .txt files. |
| ASP | Active Server Page - A specification for a dynamically created Web page with a .ASP extension that contain either Visual Basic or Jscript code. When a browser requests an ASP page, the Web server generates a page with HTML code and sends it back to the browser. So ASP pages are similar to CGI scripts, but they enable Visual Basic programmers to work with familiar tools. These are usable on AIT's Windows 2000 Accounts. |
| B - | Back to top |
| Binary | FTP transfer mode. This mode is used when transferring binary files such as images, multi-media, programs and zip files. |
| C - | Back to top |
| CPanel | Included with your virtual server package, be it windows or linux, is a Control Panel. This is a browser based interface you can use to manipulate your site almost entirely without having to mess with FTP or Telnet to modify any portion of your site. |
| CGI | Abbreviation of Common Gateway Interface, a specification for transferring
information between a World Wide Web server and a CGI program. A CGI program is
any program designed to accept and return data that conforms to the CGI specification.
The program could be written in any programming language, including C, Perl, Java,
or Visual Basic. CGI programs are the most common way for Web servers to interact
dynamically with users. Many HTML pages that contain forms, for example, use a
CGI program to process the form's data once it's submitted. Another increasingly
common way to provide dynamic feedback for Web users is to include scripts or
programs that run on the user's machine rather than the Web server. These programs
can be Java applets, Java scripts, or ActiveX controls. These technologies are
known collectively as client-side solutions, while the use of CGI is a server-side
solution because the processing occurs on the Web server. One problem with CGI is that each time a CGI script is executed, a new process is started. For busy Web sites, this can slow down the server noticeably. A more efficient solution, but one that it is also more difficult to implement, is to use the server's API, such as ISAPI or NSAPI. Another increasingly popular solution is to use Java servlets, however at this time, AIT does not support server side Java. |
| Co-location | This is the process of putting your own machine on our network. You manage the machine yourself, everything from the hardware and the software but you are renting space from us. |
| Cron | - A Unix command for scheduling jobs to be executed sometime in the future. A cron is normally used to schedule a job that is executed periodically - for example, to send out a notice every morning. It is also a daemon process, meaning that it runs continuously, waiting for specific events to occur. |
| D - | Back to top |
| DNS |
Domain Name Server. Below are AIT's DNS servers:
Primary Host Name Server NS0.AITCOM.NET |
| Domain Name | A domain name is the identity of a web site on the internet. This name is located in DNS and is associated with a unique IP address. When the Domain name is called for in DNS (when a user clicks on a link to your domain name) The routers and DNS machines resolve that name to an IP address, go to the machine and retrieve the requested information. |
| E - | Back to top |
| Email Alias | aliasing allows you to have multiple e-mail addresses sent to a specific POP e-mail account (ie. pick up webmaster@yourdomain.com, sales@yourdomain.com, etc. from one POP account) rather than from several separate ones. |
| Email Client | An Email client is a program that allows you to connect to your mail server (i.e. Outlook, Eudora) and retrieves your email for you to read and manage. |
| Email Forward | Forwarding allows you to have e-mail forwarded from a specific address or POP account to another POP account (ie. have all e-mail sent to webmaster@yourdomain.com sent to your POP account provided by your ISP) |
| F - | Back to top |
| FTP | File Transfer Protocol. This is how files are transferred from a remote site to your local machine and visa-versa. To upload, you will need an FTP client. This is a program that connects to the remote server and gives you an interface similar to your windows explorer where you move through a change rooted file system to upload and download your files in ascii and binary formats. |
| H - | Back to top |
| HTML | (Hyper-Text Markup Language) the name of the standard coding used to create web pages, most web pages are written/coded in HTML. |
| I - | Back to top |
| IP Address | IP stands for Internet Protocol. This is a unique 4 section number that points to the machine that your virtual server is located. A sample of an IP address is (208.234.4.243). Each section ranges from 0 to 255. |
| ISP | Internet Service Provider. These are your dial-up providers (DigiVerge, etc.) your DSL's and Cable (RoadRunner, etc.) internet connection providers. They give you access to the internet. |
| L - | Back to top |
| Linux | Linux is one of the servers we use at AIT. This is a very powerful and versatile Operating System. Currently we are using Linux Redhat version 7.1 |
| P - | Back to Top |
| POP | Post Office Protocol. Using port 110, POP is what you receive your email through your email client. |
| Propagation | The time it takes for your domain name to be recognized globally by DNS. This process takes about 3 to 7 days. |
| S - | Back to top |
| SMTP | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. This is what you use to SEND mail from your email client. SMTP uses port 25. |
| Spam | Unsolicited Email. This is like junk mail you get in your mail box, advertisements, etc. |
| SSI | Server Side Include. AIT supports the use of SSI on your web site, in order to utilize this, you need to make sure your web page is suffixed as .shtml. |
| V - | Back to top |
| Virtual Server | Not a dedicated server. This server shares the same machine as other servers, but has it's own IP address and permissions. |
| W - | Back to top |
| Windows 2000 | Windows 2000 is the second of two operating systems AIT uses. This allows us to accomodate the requirements of a larger client base as some use Active Server Pages and ODBC while others utilize PHP and MySQL. We are currently running IIS 5 as the web server for our Windows 2000 Servers. |
| WWW | World Wide Web. The Internet. Using www.yourdomain.com is not an Internet-wide requirement, but a few hosting companies only allow their sites to be accessed using the www extension. AIT allows you to use the www extension as well as to use your domain without the www extension. |
| X - | Back to top |
| XML | Extensible Markup Language. |
