Glossary Terms

A method of transferring encrypted files from one computer to another. This method prevents data from being intercepted and read. This secure protocol is preferred over FTP.

A tool for locating information on the Internet by topic. Popular search engines include Google, Yahoo and Bing.

The methods used to boost the ranking or frequency of a website in results returned by a search engine, in an effort to maximize user traffic to the site.

Software that allows a user to interact with a server. Many shells allow the user to type commands, and are often referred to as CLIs, or command line interfaces.

This protocol is the standard for transmitting email messages across the Internet. It is namely used for sending mail to a mail server's relayer.

Unsolicited email sent in bulk, usually by an automated system or exploited web application.

A feature that allows a recipient server to verify that an email message has really been sent from the domain specified in the From: field. Enabling SPF can prevent your server from receiving replies to spam that has forged your domain name as part of the sender's address. SPF only works if both the sending and receiving mail servers have SPF enabled.

An attack wherein the attacker conceals his identity by appearing as another user through the falsification of data, such as email headers. Enabling SPF makes it more difficult for spammers to spoof a domain.

A specialized programming language for sending queries to databases. Each application will have its own version of SQL-implementing features unique to that application, but all SQL-capable databases will support a common subset of SQL.

A type of relational database management system

A network protocol that allows a user to log into a remote machine securely. You can create keys for authenticating a user's identity during SSH login through the "Manage SSH Keys" feature in cPanel.

A cryptographic scheme that allows for secure interaction between a web browser and a web server. All sensitive data (credit card numbers, login information, etc.) that is transmitted over the Internet should be protected by SSL. Website owners can install an SSL certificate on a website (via the "Install SSL Certificate" feature in cPanel) to allow the site to be protected by SSL.

An electronic document (using the filename extension .crt) which binds a public key to an identity consisting of an email address, company, and location. This electronic document is a key piece in an authentication process.

A subsection of a website that exists as a subdirectory in the website owner's home folder. If the domain were example.com, then the sub domain URL would appear as subdomain.example.com.

To become a member of a mailing list, newsgroup, or other online service.

A feature provided by Apache that allows users to run CGI and SSI applications on the system as themselves. By default, CGI and SSI are executed using the system account known as nobody with the UID of 99.

Someone responsible for the physical operations of a computer system or network. A System Administrator (or Sysadmin) decides how often system maintenance should be performed, and the Sysop performs those tasks.