Web hosting can involve a lot of confusing tech terms. Whether you’re launching a blog, setting up your personal site, or building an online business, you might run into phrases like “bandwidth throttling” that make no sense to you.
Unless you’re a developer or have some IT knowledge, these terms can be hard to understand. Here’s a breakdown of the common hosting jargon and what it actually means.
Before we jump to understanding the technical jargon, let’s first talk about what web hosting even is.
Web hosting is where your website lives. Every site that you visit is sitting on a server. A server is a physical or virtual machine that stores all the site’s data, files, images, and code. And when someone types in your site’s URL in a search bar, their browser connects to the server to show your page.
You’ve probably seen the terms “shared hosting,” “VPS hosting,” or “dedicated hosting.” These are the different types of web hosting available. Here’s how they differ:
This is the cheapest option. Shared hosting is a type of hosting where your site shares space and resources with other sites. It’s good for very small sites because it can’t handle high traffic – that is, when a lot of people start visiting your site – and maintain high performance.
VPS server hosting might not give you a full dedicated server, but you do get dedicated resources. It’s a nice middle ground.
You still share a physical server, but your portion is separate in the sense that your site has guaranteed resources and more control over its configuration. Some providers, like Liquid Web, even offer fully managed servers so you can focus on the operational side of things.
You get the whole server to yourself. It’s powerful and customizable, but can be pretty expensive. You don’t really need dedicated hosting unless you’re running a big site or app.
Let’s decode some of the most common hosting jargon.
Think of this as how much data can come to your website, and from it as well. More bandwidth means that your site can handle more traffic without slowing down. Limited bandwidth can lead to slow loading or even downtime (your site being inaccessible).
You will see many hosts offering 99.9% uptime. This means that your site will almost always be available and accessible. Sometimes, there may be planned downtimes, but you’ll be notified beforehand.
These are the brains of the server. Some hosting plans assign you a set number of CPU cores. More cores mean better performance, especially if your site uses a lot of dynamic content or has lots of visitors.
Like your computer, more RAM means your server can process things faster. If your site has plugins, pages with a lot of pictures or videos, or other features, you will need more RAM.
Solid-state drives (SSDs) are much faster than traditional hard drives (HDDs). They read and write data faster, which makes your site more responsive and quicker. If you want better performance, go for SSD storage.
You might notice some hosting providers offering cPanel. It’s a user-friendly interface that helps in managing your hosting account. It lets you install WordPress, manage email accounts, and access databases without using code.
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