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Glossary

A list of common technical terms you might encounter while managing your hosting.

D

DNS
Domain Name System. The system that translates human-readable domain names (like gozenhost.com) into machine-readable IP addresses. Think of it as the contact list of the internet.
DNS Propagation
The time it takes for DNS changes to update across the internet. This is usually caused by ISP caching and can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours.
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail. A method of email authentication that allows the receiver to check that an email was indeed authorized by the owner of that domain.
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance. An email authentication protocol that uses SPF and DKIM to determine the authenticity of an email message.

F

FTP
File Transfer Protocol. A standard network protocol used for the transfer of computer files between a client and server on a computer network.

H

HTTPS
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. An extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It is used for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet.

I

IP Address
Internet Protocol Address. A numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.

P

phpMyAdmin
A free software tool written in PHP, intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the World Wide Web.
Propagation
See DNS Propagation.

S

SPF
Sender Policy Framework. An email authentication method designed to detect forging sender addresses during the delivery of the email.
SSL
Secure Sockets Layer. A standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a server and a client.
SOA Record
Start of Authority Record. A type of resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS) containing administrative information about the zone, especially regarding zone transfers.

T

TTL
Time to Live. A mechanism that limits the lifespan or lifetime of data in a computer or network. In DNS, it dictates how long a resolver should cache a DNS query.