A beginner's glossary of hosting terms

New to web hosting? Here are the common terms you'll come across, in plain English.

Key terms

  • Domain — your website's address, like yourname.co.za.
  • Hosting — the space on a server where your website's files live.
  • cPanel — the control panel you use to manage your hosting.
  • Nameservers / DNS — the system that points your domain to your hosting.
  • SSL — the certificate that adds https and the padlock to your site.
  • Bandwidth — the amount of data your site can transfer to visitors.
  • Disk space — how much storage your files, email and databases use.
  • FTP — a way to upload files to your hosting.
  • Database — where apps like WordPress store their content.

Come across a term we haven't covered? Ask our team — we're happy to explain.

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