Web
Hosting Dictionary (Please
click on letter to view definitions)
Web
Hosting Glossary - P
Packet
Switching
The method used to move data around on the Internet . In packet
switching, all the data coming out of a machine is broken up into
chunks, each chunk has the address of where it came from and where
it is going. This enables chunks of data from many different sources
to co-mingle on the same lines, and be sorted and directed to different
routes by special machines along the way. This way many people can
use the same lines at the same time.
Password
A code used to gain access to a locked system. Good passwords contain
letters and non-letters and are not simple combinations such as
virtue7 . A good password might be "Hot$1-6"
Plug-in
A (usually small) piece of software that adds features to a larger
piece of software. Common examples are plug-ins for the Netscape®
browser and web server . Adobe Photoshop® also uses plug-ins.The
idea behind plug-in’s is that a small piece of software is
loaded into memory by the larger program, adding a new feature,
and that users need only install the few plug-ins that they need,
out of a much larger pool of possibilities. Plug-ins are usually
created by people other than the publishers of the software the
plug-in works with.
POP
POP stands for Post Office Protocol. This is a protocol used to
retrieve e-mail from a mail server. Most e-mail applications use
the POP protocol. The newest and most widely used version of POP
email is POP3 email. You will see the term POP3 in most of the web
hosting plans available today.
Port
3 meanings. First and most generally, a place where information
goes into or out of a computer, or both. E.g. the serial port on
a personal computer is where a modem would be connected. On the
Internet port often refers to a number that is part of a URL , appearing
after a colon (:) right after the domain name . Every service on
an Internet server listens on a particular port number on that server.
Most services have standard port numbers, e.g. Web servers normally
listen on port 80. Services can also listen on non-standard ports,
in which case the port number must be specified in a URL when accessing
the server, so you might see a URL of the form: gopher://peg.cwis.uci.edu:7000/
shows a gopher server running on a non-standard port (the standard
gopher port is 70). Finally, port also refers to translating a piece
of software to bring it from one type of computer system to another,
e.g. to translate a Windows program so that is will run on a Macintosh.
Portal
Usually used as a marketing term to described a Web site that is
or is intended to be the first place people see when using the Web.
Typically a "Portal site" has a catalog of web sites,
a search engine, or both. A Portal site may also offer email and
other service to entice people to use that site as their main "point
of entry" (hence "portal") to the Web.
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