Web hosting terms sound technical, but most describe simple ideas: where your website lives, how visitors find it, how fast and safe it is, and what your host promises. This glossary explains 40 of them in plain English, grouped by topic. Each one links to a deeper guide when you need more.
Key takeaways
- Your domain, DNS and hosting are three separate things, often bought from different companies.
- The terms that predict how a site performs are CPU, memory, server location and caching, not “unlimited” storage.
- Uptime, SLA, backups and retention tell you what happens when something goes wrong.
- Hosting keeps the server running. Updates and security inside your website are maintenance, a separate job.
What do the domain and DNS terms mean?
These are the terms you’ll meet when connecting a domain to your website or email.
- Domain name: your website’s address, such as yourbusiness.com.au. You license it for a set term and renew it. Our guide on how to choose a domain name covers picking a good one.
- Registrar: the company you register and renew your domain through. It doesn’t have to be your web host, as our guide to registrars versus web hosts explains.
- Renewal grace period: the time after a domain expires when you can still renew it. For .au names it’s 30 days, during which your website and email stop working (auDA).
- DNS (Domain Name System): the internet’s address book. It turns your domain into the server addresses that computers use. See our plain-English guide to DNS records.
- Nameservers: the servers that hold your domain’s DNS records. Changing them moves control of all your records at once, which is why it matters which one you change.
- A record: a DNS record pointing your domain to the IP address of the server hosting your website. When you move hosts, this is usually the record that changes.
- MX record: a DNS record that tells the world which server receives your email. Change it by mistake and email stops arriving, even though the website still works.
- DNS propagation: the delay while servers around the world pick up a DNS change. It’s usually minutes to hours. Here’s why your domain hasn’t updated yet.
What are the main types of hosting?
- Shared hosting: many websites on one server, sharing its resources. It’s affordable, and safe when accounts are well isolated. Our guide to shared hosting security explains the risks.
- VPS (virtual private server): your own slice of a server, with reserved processor cores, memory and its own operating system. Read when to move to a VPS.
- Cloud hosting: hosting that runs on a pool of connected servers rather than one machine. The name describes the setup, not a level of quality. Ask what resources you actually get.
- Managed hosting: the host looks after the server software, security and backups for you. With unmanaged hosting, you do. See managed versus unmanaged hosting.
- Managed WordPress hosting: hosting tuned for WordPress, often with caching, staging and update help. Our guide asks whether managed WordPress hosting is worth the extra.
What do the server resource terms mean?
Resources decide how much work your site can do at once. Our guide to how much storage, memory and CPU you need goes deeper.
- CPU cores: the processors that build your pages. More cores let the server handle more visitors at the same moment.
- Memory (RAM): fast working space for the server. Too little, and busy pages slow down or fail. Online stores and page builders need more than simple brochure sites.
- Disk storage: space for your files, images, database and sometimes email. SSD and NVMe drives are much faster than older spinning disks.
- Bandwidth: how much data your site sends to visitors each month. Most small sites use far less than they think, as our explainer on unlimited bandwidth shows.
- Fair use policy: the limits hiding behind “unlimited”. It usually caps processor use, file counts or email sending. Read it before you rely on any unlimited claim.
- Data centre: the secure building where servers live. Its location affects speed, which is why Australian versus overseas hosting still matters.
What software terms will I see?
- Web server: the software, usually Nginx, Apache or LiteSpeed, that receives requests and sends back your pages. Visitors never see it, but its setup affects speed and security.
- PHP: the programming language WordPress runs on. Each version gets security fixes for a limited time; PHP 8.2’s security support ends on 31 December 2026 (PHP.net). Check which PHP version your site should run.
- Database: where WordPress stores your pages, settings, orders and users. Most hosts use MySQL or MariaDB. A backup without the database is only half a backup.
- Control panel: the dashboard for managing your hosting, such as cPanel, Plesk or a host’s own panel. Does it matter who runs your server?
- Staging site: a private copy of your website for testing updates and changes. Here’s how a staging site makes updates safer.
What do the security terms mean?
- SSL/TLS certificate: the file that lets your site load over HTTPS and encrypt what visitors send. Let’s Encrypt issues free ones valid for 90 days, which good hosts renew automatically (Let’s Encrypt). Read why you need an SSL certificate.
- Web application firewall (WAF): a filter that blocks malicious requests before they reach your site. See how a web application firewall stops attacks.
- Malware scanning: automated checks of your files and database for malicious code. Learn what free scans miss.
- DDoS attack: a flood of traffic from many machines, meant to knock a site offline. Our guide covers how worried small businesses should be.
- Two-factor authentication (2FA): a second login step, such as a code from an app. Every admin account needs two-factor authentication.
What do speed and performance terms mean?
- TTFB (time to first byte): how long a browser waits before the first part of your page arrives. Google’s web.dev suggests 0.8 seconds or less (web.dev). It’s one way hosting affects SEO.
- Caching: keeping ready-made copies of pages or data so the server doesn’t rebuild them each time. Here’s a simple guide to WordPress caching.
- CDN (content delivery network): servers in many cities holding copies of your files near visitors. Do you need a CDN if your customers are local?
- Core Web Vitals: Google’s measures of real-world loading, responsiveness and visual stability. A “good” score means LCP of 2.5 seconds or less, INP of 200 milliseconds or less and CLS of 0.1 or less (web.dev).
What do reliability and contract terms mean?
- Uptime: the share of time your site is reachable. 99.9% still allows about 43 minutes of downtime a month, as our guide to uptime guarantees explains.
- SLA (service level agreement): the host’s written promise on uptime or response times, and what you get if it’s broken. Read it alongside the other web hosting terms and conditions.
- Backup: a copy of your files and database you can restore. The 3-2-1 backup rule keeps one copy off-site.
- Snapshot: a point-in-time image of a whole server, usually stored with it. It’s useful, but it doesn’t replace offsite backups.
- Retention: how long backups are kept before being deleted. Longer backup retention helps when malware hides for weeks.
- Migration: moving a website, database and often email to a new host. Know what free migration includes before you switch.
- Renewal price: what you pay after the first term ends. It can be much higher than the advertised price, so read up on hosting renewal price shock.
Which terms should I check on a hosting quote?
Most of these terms appear somewhere in a hosting quote or plan comparison. Five of them tell you the most, so turn them into questions:
| Term | Question to ask | A good answer |
|---|---|---|
| CPU cores and memory | How much does my account get? | A clear number, not “unlimited” |
| Data centre | Which city is my site hosted in? | Near your customers |
| Backup and retention | How often, kept how long, stored where? | Daily or better, off-site, weeks not days |
| SLA | What happens if you miss your uptime target? | A written remedy, such as a service credit |
| Renewal price | What will I pay in year two? | A number you can see before you sign |
If a host can’t answer these plainly, that tells you something too.
Where does hosting stop and maintenance start?
This is the term most owners never hear defined. Hosting keeps the server, network and data centre running. Website maintenance looks after everything inside your site: WordPress, plugin and theme updates, security checks, restores and fixes.
Many hosts don’t update your plugins or clean up after a hack. If nobody owns those jobs, they don’t get done. Our Maintain & Protect website care plans cover that side, and our Australian web hosting covers the server.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a domain and hosting?
Your domain is your address, and hosting is the server where your website’s files live. DNS connects the two. You can buy them from the same company or different ones, and you can move either without losing the other.
Which hosting terms matter most when comparing plans?
CPU cores, memory, server location, backups and the renewal price. Storage and bandwidth matter less than they look for most small business sites. Support hours and what happens during an emergency are worth checking too.
What does 99.9% uptime mean in hours?
About 43 minutes of downtime in a 30-day month, or nearly nine hours over a year. Check whether planned maintenance counts and what credit you receive if the host misses its target.
Is a VPS the same as cloud hosting?
Not exactly. A VPS is a reserved slice of a server with its own operating system. Cloud hosting describes resources drawn from a pool of servers. Many VPS plans today run on cloud infrastructure, so the two often overlap.
Does my host update WordPress for me?
Usually not. Most hosts manage the server only. Updating WordPress, plugins and themes, and checking the site afterwards, is website maintenance. Ask your host exactly what they cover.
Sources
- Renewing your domain licence, auDA
- Supported versions, PHP.net, checked November 2026
- FAQ, Let’s Encrypt
- Time to First Byte (TTFB), web.dev
- Web Vitals, web.dev