Glossary

The following definitions are not inclusive, but provide a good starting point for terminology related to hosting technology, e-commerce and domain management.

Internet Terminology

Domain Terminology

E | R | Z

Area	Definition
Domains	Secondary Name Server - The second name server referenced when attempting to resolve an Internet address. It is reserved for use as backup if resolution via the primary name server fails.
Domains	Second-Level Domain Name - The part of a domain name preceding the top level. In "mydomain.com," "mydomain" is the second-level domain name. Within the ".com," ".net," and ".org" domain names, it is the second-level domain names that are registered.
Domains	Secure Socket Layer - A protocol that provides encrypted communications on the Internet. It is used by the HTTPS access method and was designed by Netscape.
Domains	Server - a computer used to transfer files via an Internet connection.
Domains	Shared Registration System (SRS) - A system that permits multiple registrars to provide Internet domain name registration services of top-level domains.
Domains	Simple Mail Transfer Protocol - A protocol used to transfer e-mail between computers. It is a server-to-server protocol. Client-to-server protocols such as IMAP and POP3 are used to access e-mail messages.
Domains	SMTP (see Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
Domains	SOA (Start of Authority) Resource Record - A type of record in the domain name system that indicates that a particular name server contains authoritative data for a domain name.
Domains	SRS (see Shared Registration System)
Domains	SSL (see Secure Socket Layer)
Domains	Sub-Domain - A partition within a domain name, usually a third level domain name.
Domains	T1 - A type of data connection able to transmit a digital signal at 1.544 megabits per second. T1 lines are often used to link large computer networks, such as those that make up the Internet.
Domains	T3 - A type of data connection able to transmit a digital signal at 44Mbps. T3 lines are often used to link large computer networks, such as those that make up the Internet.
Domains	TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) - The primary language that computers use to communicate with one another over the Internet. Protocols such as HTTP and FTP run on top of TCP/IP.
Domains	Technical Contact - The individual or company responsible for all technical changes to a domain name. The technical contact is usually the person or organization responsible for maintaining the primary name server for the domain name.
Domains	Third Level Domain Name - The part of a domain name preceding the second level and top level in an address. In a Web address, the third-level domain name is usually "www." The third level often specifies the type of information that a computer is responsible for on a network; the computer at "www.mycompany.com" will typically be a Web server while the one at "mail.mycompany.com" will be a mail server.
Domains	Top-Level Domain Name - The rightmost part of a domain name. Generic TLDs include ".com," ".net," and ".org"; country code TLDs include .jp (Japan), .uk (United Kingdom) and .au (Australia).
Domains	Trademark - A word, phrase, graphic image, or symbol used by a business or other organization to represent itself or its merchandise. Trademarks must be registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (in the United States) or with the appropriate international authority in order to be legally recognized.
Domains	Transfer DNS (see Change DNS Information)
Domains	Transfer In - A change of domain name service or registrar to NameSecure from another company.
Domains	Transfer Out - A change of domain name service or registrar from NameSecure to another company.
Domains	Transfer Registrar (see Change Registrar)
Domains	UDRP (see Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy)
Domains	Under Construction page - A single, non-editable web page which displays the domain name used to reach it. NameSecure's Under Construction page is available to all NameSecure customers. The Under Construction page is not editable.
Domains	UNIX - An interactive time-sharing operating system invented in 1969 by Ken Thompson. Co-authored by Dennis Ritchie (the inventor of C, another programming language).
Domains	Upload - To transmit information to another computer over a network. The opposite of download.
Domains	URL (Universal Resource Locator) - The addressing standard used for documents and media on the Internet. The term "http://www.mycompany.com/info/file.html" is a URL. It specifies the document type (HTTP), the computer where the document can be found (www.mycompany.com), where on the computer the document is located (/info), and the document's name (file.html).
Domains	URL Gripper - A feature that keeps a domain name in a browser's address bar while a user browses a Web site. It hides the real location of the pages. The URL Gripper is used in conjunction with Web forwarding.
Domains	Usenet - A world-wide distributed interactive system consisting of "newsgroups" with names which are classified hierarchically by subject. "Articles" or "messages" are "posted" to these newsgroups by and read by people on computers with the appropriate software. Some usenet groups are "moderated", meaning that the posts are sent through a moderator for approval before they are displayed.
Domains	Virtual Host - A computer which can be forced to respond to multiple IP addresses and provide various services (typically different Web services) on each. Each of these IP addresess (which usually each have their own hostname) operate as if they were separate hosts on separate machines, although they are really all the same host. Therefore, they are called "virtual" hosts. An example of virtual hosting is when an Internet Service Provider "hosts" World-Wide Web and other services for several customers on the same computer but gives the appearence that each of these services use separate servers.
Domains	Web Address - A domain name or URL; usually the location currently being viewed in the web browser.
Domains	Web Browser - Software that gives a user access to the World Wide Web. Web browsers provide a graphical interface that lets users click buttons, icons, and menu options to view and navigate Web pages. Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are popular Web browsers.
Domains	Web Forwarding - A service that points a domain name to an existing Web site address. Web forwarding lets you register a domain name (such as "mycompany.com") and attach it to an existing Web site (such as "http://www.aol.com/members/mycompany9876").
Domains	Web Host - a company responsible for hosting a web page.
Domains	Web Hosting - A service that allows you to upload and store a site's HTML documents and related files on a Web server. This makes the files available on the World Wide Web for viewing by the public. Also called site hosting.
Domains	Web Page - A document written in HTML that can be accessed on the Internet. Every Web page has a unique address called a URL. Web pages can contain text, graphics, and hyperlinks to other web pages and files.
Domains	Web Server - A computer that stores Web documents and makes them available to the rest of the world. A server may be dedicated, meaning its sole purpose is to be a Web server, or non-dedicated, meaning it can be used for basic computing in addition to acting as a server.
Domains	Web Site - A collection of Web pages.
Domains	Web-Based E-mail - A service that allows users to send and receive e-mail (and usually to store e-mail and manage accounts) via a Web interface. Popular Web-based e-mail services include HotMail and Yahoo! Mail.
Domains	WHOIS database - A public database mandated by ICANN - the regulating agency over the domain registration industry. This database was intended to help people contact domain registrants for valid reasons (ex. Legal reasons).
Domains	Whois Information- The Contact Data required by each Registrant for each domain name registration.
Domains	WHOIS Lookup - A search of a root server to determine if a domain name has been registered and, if it has, who the owner is.
Domains	WHOIS NamePrivacy Service - A domain name registration add-on service offered by NameSecure that masks the publicly available data published to the WHOIS database to reduce spam, and sidetrack scammers and other nefarious sorts who would misuse that data for their own personal gain.
Domains	Whois Registry- The publicly accessible directory of Contact Data for domain names, IP addresses, or digital certificates.
Domains	World Wide Web - A vast collection of files, including text, graphics, and other data linked through the Internet.
Domains	Zone Contact - The zone contact is the person or entity that is responsible for administration and management of a domain name, and all sub-domains that have not been delegated to different name servers.
Domains	Zone Data - Information concerning a domain and contained within a zone file or a database file.
Domains	Zone File - A file on the root server that contains domain name registration information. Zone files contain information necessary to resolve domain names to IP addresses. See also database file.

Additional:

General: A Record to Expired Domain | Forwarding to Root Server | Secondary Name Server to Zone File

Domains: Adware to ISP | Local Name Server to Sub-Domain | T1 to Zone File

E-Com: Application-to-Application to XML