Glossary
Hosting: terms A–Z
Server, staging, SSL, CDN, uptime, caching — every hosting term explained in plain English.
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Web hosting has its own vocabulary. This page explains every term you're likely to encounter when managing your site's hosting account or working with our team.
Quick summary
This page covers 50+ hosting terms from A to Z. For step-by-step hosting guides, visit the Hosting section. Use Ctrl+F / Cmd+F to find any term quickly.
A–C
| Term | Plain-English definition |
|---|---|
| Bandwidth | The total amount of data transferred between your server and visitors in a given period. Heavy traffic or large files use more bandwidth. |
| Backup | A saved copy of your website files and database. If something goes wrong, a backup lets you restore the site. See How backups work. |
| caching | Storing copies of web pages or assets so they can be served faster without regenerating them from scratch every time. |
| CDN | Content Delivery Network. A network of servers around the world that stores copies of your site's files, serving them from the location nearest to each visitor. See What is a CDN?. |
| cPanel | A popular web-based hosting control panel. Many shared hosting plans use it to manage files, databases, email accounts, and settings. |
| Cloud hosting | Hosting where your site runs across multiple servers rather than one physical machine. More scalable and resilient than traditional hosting. |
D–F
| Term | Plain-English definition |
|---|---|
| Data center | A physical building full of servers where hosting providers house the computers that power websites. |
| Database | An organized collection of data. WordPress stores pages, posts, users, and settings in a database (usually MySQL). |
| Dedicated server | A hosting plan where you get an entire physical server to yourself. More powerful and expensive than shared or VPS hosting. |
| Deployment | The process of making new code or content live on a server. |
| Disk space / Storage | The amount of storage space your hosting plan provides for your files, databases, and email. |
| DNS | See Domains & DNS: terms A–Z for a full glossary. In hosting context, DNS connects your domain to the correct server. |
| Downtime | Time when your website is unavailable to visitors. Good hosts keep downtime to a minimum. See Uptime, downtime & what they mean. |
E–H
| Term | Plain-English definition |
|---|---|
| Environment | A copy of your website for a specific purpose — production (live), staging (testing), or development (local). |
| FTP / SFTP | File Transfer Protocol / Secure File Transfer Protocol. A method for moving files between your computer and a server. SFTP is the secure, encrypted version. |
| Flywheel | A managed WordPress hosting company (owned by WP Engine). Known for its clean dashboard and client-collaboration features. See Flywheel hosting: overview. |
| File manager | A tool in your hosting dashboard for viewing, uploading, and editing files on your server — like a browser-based version of Windows Explorer or macOS Finder. |
| Geo-redundancy | Storing server copies in multiple geographic locations so your site stays up even if one data center has a problem. |
| HTTP / HTTPS | The protocols used to transfer data between browsers and servers. HTTPS is the encrypted, secure version. |
I–M
| Term | Plain-English definition |
|---|---|
| IP address | A numerical address assigned to your server. Your domain's DNS A record points to this address. |
| Kinsta | A premium managed WordPress hosting platform. See Kinsta hosting: overview. |
| Load balancing | Distributing incoming traffic across multiple servers so no single server gets overwhelmed. |
| Managed hosting | Hosting where the provider handles technical maintenance — updates, backups, security monitoring, performance — so you don't have to. |
| Managed WordPress hosting | Hosting specifically optimized for WordPress, with automated WordPress updates, backups, staging, and caching. See What is managed WordPress hosting?. |
| Migration | Moving a website from one host or server to another. See What happens when we migrate your host. |
| MySQL | The most common database system used by WordPress. Stores your site's content, settings, and user data. |
N–S
| Term | Plain-English definition |
|---|---|
| Nameserver | A server that holds DNS records. When you sign up with a host, they often ask you to update your domain's nameservers to point to theirs. |
| Object caching | A type of caching that stores processed database query results in memory (RAM) so repeated requests are served instantly. Redis and Memcached are common tools. |
| PHP | The programming language WordPress is built on. Your host runs a PHP version — keeping it current is important for security and performance. |
| PHP memory limit | The maximum amount of memory your server will allow PHP to use at once. WordPress sometimes needs this increased for heavy plugins. |
| Resource limits | Caps on how much CPU, memory, or bandwidth your hosting plan allows. Hitting limits can slow your site or cause errors. |
| Shared hosting | Multiple websites sharing the same server's resources. The most affordable hosting type, but can be slow if a neighbor hogs resources. |
| SSL / TLS | Secure Sockets Layer / Transport Layer Security. The encryption technology that makes HTTPS work — creates a padlock in the browser bar. See What is SSL & HTTPS?. |
| Staging site | A private, password-protected copy of your live website used to test changes safely before publishing. See What is a staging site?. |
| Subdomain | A prefix before your main domain used for staging or special sections — e.g. staging.yoursite.com. |
| SSH | Secure Shell. A secure command-line method for connecting to and managing a server directly. Usually used only by developers. |
T–Z
| Term | Plain-English definition |
|---|---|
| Uptime | The percentage of time your website is accessible and working. 99.9% uptime = roughly 9 hours of downtime per year. |
| VPS | Virtual Private Server. A step up from shared hosting — you get a dedicated slice of a server's resources. More control and performance than shared, less than a dedicated server. |
| WP Engine | A leading managed WordPress hosting platform. See WP Engine hosting: overview. |
| Web server | Software (Apache, Nginx) running on a physical server that receives browser requests and sends back web pages. |
| WordPress multisite | A feature that lets one WordPress installation run multiple websites from the same dashboard. |
| Zero downtime deployment | A deployment process that switches to new code without making the site briefly unavailable to visitors. |
Common questions
Related guides
- What is web hosting?
- What is a staging site?
- What is SSL & HTTPS?
- What is a CDN?
- Hosting terms, explained simply
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