Hosting and domain glossary

A

A record

A DNS record that points a domain name (or a subdomain such as www) at the IPv4 address of a server. It is the record that sends visitors to your website.

Auto-renew

A setting that renews a domain automatically before it expires, so you never lose the name by accident. Cloud Cabin domains renew automatically unless you switch it off, with reminders beforehand. Read more: Domain renewals.

B

Bandwidth

The amount of data a website sends to its visitors. Some hosts cap it. Cloud Cabin web hosting plans come with unmetered bandwidth. Read more: Web hosting.

C

CNAME record

A DNS record that makes one name an alias of another, for example pointing www at your main domain. It cannot sit alongside other records on the same name.

Control panel

A web dashboard for managing a hosting account without typing commands. cPanel is the best known. You use it to manage files, email, databases, domains and backups. Read more: What is cPanel?.

cPanel

The most widely used web hosting control panel for Linux servers. It gives website owners one place to manage files, email accounts, databases, domains, SSL certificates and backups. Read more: What is cPanel?.

D

DDoS attack

A distributed denial-of-service attack floods a website or network with traffic from many sources to knock it offline. Hosts defend against it with network-level filtering, called DDoS mitigation. Read more: Website security checklist.

DKIM

DomainKeys Identified Mail adds a digital signature to outgoing email, which receiving servers check against a public key in your DNS to prove the message was not changed in transit. Read more: SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained.

DMARC

A DNS record that tells receiving mail servers what to do with email that fails SPF and DKIM checks (nothing, quarantine or reject), and sends the domain owner reports about who is sending mail in its name. Read more: SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained.

DNS

The Domain Name System turns a name such as example.co.uk into the address of the server that hosts it, and holds the records that route email. Think of it as the internet's phone book. Read more: Domain names.

Domain lock

A registrar lock that stops a domain being transferred to another registrar without the owner's permission. It protects against hijacking, and you switch it off when you intend to move the domain. Read more: Transfer a domain.

Domain name

The address people type to reach your website and the part after the @ in your email, for example yourbusiness.co.uk. You register a domain through a registrar and renew it, usually yearly. Read more: Register a domain.

E

EPP authorisation code

A secret code, also called an auth code or transfer key, that proves you own a domain when you move it to a new registrar. .com domains use one. .uk domains use an IPS tag change instead, until Nominet moves .uk to transfer authorisation codes on 9 February 2027. Read more: Transfer a .co.uk domain.

G

Green hosting

Web hosting powered by renewable energy, backed by evidence. The Green Web Foundation offers a free check that shows whether a website is served from a verified green provider. Read more: Green web hosting explained.

H

HTTPS

The secure version of the web's HTTP protocol. It encrypts traffic between a visitor's browser and your site, and shows as a padlock. It needs an SSL/TLS certificate, which Cloud Cabin includes free. Read more: Website security checklist.

I

IMAP

A standard way for mail apps to read email while leaving it stored on the server, so the same mailbox shows the same messages on your phone, laptop and webmail. Read more: Email hosting.

Imunify360

A security product for web servers that scans for malware, blocks attacks and cleans infected files. It is included on Cloud Cabin web hosting plans. Read more: Web hosting.

Inode

A count of the files and folders in a hosting account. Some hosts cap the number. Cloud Cabin web hosting plans have no inode limits. Read more: Web hosting.

IPS tag

A short code that identifies the registrar of a .uk domain at Nominet, the .uk registry. Moving a .co.uk domain means having the old registrar change the tag to the new registrar's. Cloud Cabin's tag is REGISTRAR-EU. From 9 February 2027 Nominet replaces tags with transfer authorisation codes. Read more: Transfer a .co.uk domain.

J

JetBackup

Backup software for web servers that takes scheduled backups and lets account owners restore files, databases and email themselves. Cloud Cabin web plans include daily offsite backups with it. Read more: Web hosting.

L

LiteSpeed

A high-performance web server, and a replacement for Apache that reads the same settings. Its built-in caching, LSCache, speeds up WordPress and other sites. Cloud Cabin uses LiteSpeed Enterprise. Read more: WordPress hosting.

LSCache

LiteSpeed's page cache. It stores a ready-made copy of each page, so the server does not rebuild it for every visitor. It is included on every Cloud Cabin web hosting plan. Read more: WordPress hosting.

M

Malware

Malicious software, such as code injected into a hacked website to steal data, redirect visitors or send spam. Regular scanning and prompt updates are the best defence. Read more: Website security checklist.

MX record

A DNS record that says which server receives email for your domain. If you change it, email goes to the new place. Websites and email can live in different places because they use different records. Read more: Email hosting vs Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.

N

Nameserver

A server that holds the DNS records for a domain. The nameservers set at your registrar decide where DNS is managed: with the registrar, your host or a service such as Cloudflare.

NVMe storage

A very fast type of solid-state storage that connects directly to the server's processor. It reads and writes much faster than traditional drives, which helps databases and busy sites. Cloud Cabin web plans use NVMe. Read more: Web hosting.

P

POP3

An older way for mail apps to fetch email by downloading it from the server, usually removing it there. IMAP, which keeps mail on the server, suits people who use more than one device. Read more: Email hosting.

PUE

Power usage effectiveness: a data centre's total energy use divided by the energy that reaches its computing equipment. 1.0 is perfect, and lower is better. Cloud Cabin's facilities run at a PUE of 1.2. Read more: Green web hosting explained.

R

Redirect (301)

An instruction that sends visitors and search engines from one web address to another permanently. Use one when a page or site moves, so old links keep working and search rankings carry over. Read more: Moving a WordPress site.

Roundcube

A free webmail program that lets you read and send email from a browser. It is the webmail on Cloud Cabin email hosting and works on desktop, tablet and phone. Read more: Email hosting.

S

Shared hosting

A type of web hosting where many websites share one server's resources, which keeps the price low. It suits most small and medium sites. Cloud Cabin's web plans are shared hosting on managed servers. Read more: Web hosting.

SLA

A service level agreement states the level of service a provider aims for, such as 99.99% uptime, and what happens if it is missed. Read the exclusions as well as the headline number. Read more: What does 99.99% uptime mean?.

Softaculous

An app installer built into cPanel that installs more than 80 apps, including WordPress, Joomla! and Magento, in one click. Read more: What is cPanel?.

SPF

Sender Policy Framework is a DNS record that lists the servers allowed to send email for your domain, so receiving servers can reject forgeries sent from elsewhere. Read more: SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained.

SSL/TLS certificate

A digital certificate that proves a website is who it claims to be and enables an encrypted HTTPS connection. The older name is SSL, and the modern protocol is TLS. Cloud Cabin includes free certificates for every site you host. Read more: Website security checklist.

Staging site

A private copy of a website where you can test changes, such as an update or a new design, before applying them to the live site. Read more: WordPress hosting.

T

TLD (extension)

The top-level domain is the last part of a domain name, such as .com, .uk or .org. Country-code TLDs like .uk signal a country. .co.uk is a second-level domain under .uk. Read more: Choose a domain name.

TTL

Time to live: how long, in seconds, other networks may remember a DNS answer before asking again. A low TTL before a move means the change reaches visitors faster. Read more: Moving a WordPress site.

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

A second check at login, usually a code from an app on your phone, so a stolen password alone cannot open the account. Cloud Cabin's client area supports two-factor login. Read more: Website security checklist.

U

Uptime

The share of time a service is working, shown as a percentage. 99.99% uptime allows about 53 minutes of downtime a year. Read more: What does 99.99% uptime mean?.

W

WAF

A web application firewall filters web traffic and blocks common attacks, such as attempts to exploit vulnerable plugins, before they reach your site. Read more: Website security checklist.

Webmail

Email you read and send in a web browser instead of an installed app. Cloud Cabin email hosting includes Roundcube webmail. Read more: Email hosting.

Website builder

A drag-and-drop tool for building a website without writing code. Every Cloud Cabin web and WordPress hosting plan includes one at no extra cost. Read more: Website builder.

WHOIS

A public record of who registered a domain, with their contact details. Many registrars hide personal details behind WHOIS privacy. Read more: Domain names.

WHOIS privacy

A service that replaces your personal contact details in public WHOIS records. It is included free with every Cloud Cabin domain, on extensions that support it. Read more: Domain names.

WordPress hosting

Hosting set up to run WordPress well, with server caching, a fast PHP setup and tools such as staging. Cloud Cabin's WordPress hosting runs on LiteSpeed with LSCache, NVMe storage and daily backups. Read more: WordPress hosting.