Web Hosting Glossary: Plain-English Definitions

Hosting jargon, explained in plain English. Terms link to the guides where they matter most.

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.uk / .co.uk

UK country-code domains managed by Nominet. .co.uk is the most common UK commercial ending.

1

1-click installer

A tool to install apps like WordPress without manual setup.

A

A record

A DNS record pointing a domain to an IPv4 address (your web server).

B

Backups

Copies of your files and databases. Check frequency (daily vs weekly), retention and whether restores cost extra.

Bandwidth / unmetered

Data transferred to visitors. 'Unmetered' or 'unlimited' plans are still subject to fair-use policies.

C

Caching

Storing generated pages or data so they can be served faster; LiteSpeed Cache is a common server-level option.

CDN

Content delivery network: copies of your static files served from locations near visitors.

Cloud hosting

Hosting that runs on a pool of servers so resources can scale; the term is used loosely by different providers.

Control panel

The dashboard for managing hosting: files, email, databases, domains. cPanel and Plesk are common; some hosts use their own (e.g. hPanel, StackCP).

cPanel

A widely used hosting control panel; useful if you want an interface that's the same across many hosts.

D

Data centre

The facility where servers run. A UK data centre can reduce latency for UK visitors and keeps data in the UK.

Dedicated server

A whole physical server rented to one customer.

DNS

The Domain Name System, which translates domain names into server addresses and tells the internet where your website and email live.

Domain name

Your site's address, like example.co.uk. Registered separately from hosting, though often sold together.

E

Email hosting

Mailboxes on your own domain, sold with web hosting or separately. Prices compared in best email hosting UK.

Ex VAT / inc VAT

Whether a price excludes or includes UK VAT (20% standard rate, gov.uk). Most hosts quote ex VAT.

G

Green hosting

Hosting whose data-centre electricity is renewable or matched with renewable certificates. Check claims with the Green Web Foundation; see green web hosting UK.

I

Inodes

A count of files and folders; some shared plans limit it even if storage is 'unlimited'.

Intro (promotional) price

The discounted price for the first term. It may last 1 to 48 months and sometimes must be paid upfront.

M

Managed WordPress

Hosting where the provider installs and updates WordPress (and often plugins) for you, typically with caching and staging.

Money-back guarantee

A window (often 30 days) to cancel for a refund; domains and add-ons are often excluded.

MX record

A DNS record saying which server receives email for your domain. Changing it moves your email to another provider; see email hosting compared.

N

Nameservers

The servers that hold your domain's DNS records. Changing nameservers moves DNS control to another provider.

P

Propagation

The time for DNS changes to be seen everywhere as caches expire, typically minutes to 48 hours.

PUE (power usage effectiveness)

Total data-centre energy divided by the energy used by the servers; closer to 1.0 is more efficient. Compared for UK hosts in our green hosting guide.

R

Registrar

The company you register a domain through. It can be different from your host.

REGO

Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin: Ofgem certificates proving a unit of electricity was generated from renewables in Great Britain. Hosts buy them to match usage.

Renewal price

The price after the intro period ends; usually what you pay for most of your time with a host. See 3-year costs in cheap web hosting UK.

Reseller hosting

A plan for creating separate hosting accounts for clients, usually white-labelled. See best reseller hosting.

Root access

Full administrative control of a server, typical on unmanaged VPS plans.

S

Shared hosting

Many websites on one server sharing its CPU, memory and storage. The cheapest type of hosting and fine for most small sites.

SSD / NVMe storage

Solid-state storage. NVMe is a faster interface for SSDs; it's a published spec, not a guarantee of site speed.

SSL/TLS certificate

Enables HTTPS (the padlock). Free certificates (e.g. Let's Encrypt) are included by all hosts we track.

Staging site

A private copy of your site for testing changes before pushing them live.

T

TTL

Time to live: how long DNS answers are cached. Lowering it before a move makes the switch take effect faster.

U

UK GDPR

The UK's data protection law. Hosting outside the UK is allowed but has rules for international transfers; see the ICO's guidance.

Uptime guarantee / SLA

A provider's promise of availability (e.g. 99.9%) and what compensation applies if it's missed. We list these only as the provider states them.

V

VPS (virtual private server)

A virtual machine with its own guaranteed slice of a physical server's resources, usually with root access. See best VPS hosting.

W

White-label

Reseller hosting where your brand, not the host's, appears to your clients.