Web Hosting Features

Auto Responders
An auto responder is an email account/address that is configured to automatically send a pre-written email reply in response to any email sent to the auto responding address. Some uses of auto responders could be to reply with a confirmation that you received someone's email, to distribute information on request (i.e. sales letter, technical specs), or to inform contacts that you are away/vacation.

Email Accounts
When you have your own website, with its own domain name (i.e. www.domain-name.com), then you can have email addresses that use that domain name (i.e. you@domain-name.com, webmaster@domain-name.com). You can create as many of these separate email accounts as your web hosting provider allots for you.

Email Forwarders
An email forwarder is an email address that doesn't actually collect, or send out, any email, but instead forwards any email sent to it, to another specified email account/address. One advantage of using email forwarders is that you can consolidate the email from several different addresses to be read from only one email account.

Money Back Guarantee
Just like most money back guarantees, if you're not satisfied with the service within a specified time period, the hosting provider will refund your money. The conditions of the guarantee will vary between providers. Be sure to check with each individual hosting service as to the conditions of their own guarantee. Some providers will refund service charges, but will not refund the initial setup fee.

Monthly Data Transfer
Also referred to as bandwidth, this is the total amount of data your site will be allowed to send out during a 1-month period. When someone surfs to your website, they are actually making a request to have your web server send your web files to their computer, where your web pages are actually viewed from. Each file that your web server sends to their computer, be it a web page, web image, pdf file, etc., counts toward your monthly data transfer. If you send them a 5KB web page, you will use 5KB of data transfer.

Monthly Fee
This is how much you will need to pay to your hosting service each month, for them to serve your website to the World Wide Web. Some hosting providers will require that you purchase at least 3 months of service at a time. Most providers will discount your monthly fee, if you purchase at least 1 year of service up front.

Monthly Fee (Paid Yearly)
Most web hosting providers prefer to have their customers pay for several months of service in advance. Many will offer a discount off the regular monthly fee, as an incentive to purchase at least 1 year of service up front. Some providers will also offer additional discounts when you purchase 2 or 3 years in advance.

Password Protect
Allows you to restrict access to certain parts of your website, by requiring visitors to enter a username and password.

Raw Log File Access
Most web servers are configured to log information on every access request made to the websites on that server. Many web hosting providers will allow their clients to download those generated log files. The raw logs can then be analyzed manually to determine an individual users activity, or they can be analyzed with your own traffic analysis software. Log files usually capture information on:

The users IP address.
The date and time of the file request.
The particular file requested.
The amount of data transferred.
Which website/page referred the request (if available).
The type of user agent (web browser, robot, etc.) that made the request.

Of course, the data captured in your log files will depend upon the web hosting provider you choose, and how their servers are configured to log data.

Setup Fee
The setup fee is an initial one-time charge to offset the expense of preparing a web hosting account for a customer. Most web hosting providers will charge a setup fee if you will only be paying for 1 month at a time. Many providers will waive the setup fee if you purchase at least 1 year of service in advance.

Server Side Includes
Allows you to include external files inside of your web pages, by linking to them from inside the HTML document. Using SSI makes it possible to include the same information across multiple web pages, and to update that info by changing only one file.

Shopping Cart
A program run on a web server that permits the website to run an online storefront. Shoppers can add or remove items from the virtual shopping cart, then go to the checkout to make their purchase.

Site Control Panel
A web based interface that allows you to administer many functions of your website. Most control panels will allow you to do things like:

Setup email accounts, forwarders, and auto responders.
Upload and edit the web files on your site.
Retrieve visitor access logs, and view traffic statistics.

Of course, what your control panel may or may not be able to do will depend upon the web hosting provider you choose, and the features their particular control panel offers.

SSL Secure Server
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, and is a special protocol that encrypts transmissions for secure communications. If you plan to accept sensitive information from your visitors, like credit card info, it should be done over a secure SSL connection.

Storage Space
This is the maximum amount of hard drive space that your website will be allowed to occupy on the hosting provider's web server. Determine the combined file size of all your web files, and that will be the minimum amount of storage space your site will require. You'll probably want to have more space than you initially need, so there'll be room for your site to grow.

Technical Support
A service provided by the hosting company to assist clients with technical problems they may experience with their websites. The type of technical support offered can be a very important factor in deciding which company to host your website with. If your website's performance is of critical importance, then you'll want to choose a hosting provider that can provide excellent technical support.

Web Based Email
This is a service that allows you to send and receive email from any of your website's email accounts, using a web browser. You can manage your email from any computer that has a web browser and internet access.

Website Traffic Stats
A web based program that analyzes visitor access logs, and displays aggregate statistical information. Most web stats programs will show information like:

How many visitors your site is receiving.
Where the visitors to your site are coming from.
Which files your visitors are accessing.
The amount of data transfer (bandwidth) your site is using.

Of course, the information you will be able to see will depend upon the web hosting provider you choose, and the features their particular web statistics program.

Your Own CGI Bin
A directory where CGI programs are usually stored. CGI programs are usually used to process inputted data, like sending form submissions, or adding to a database.