Hosting Wiki
A technical knowledge base for hosting, domains, and supporting web infrastructure.
A technical knowledge base for hosting, domains, and supporting web infrastructure.
A per-directory Apache config file for redirects, rewrites, and access control, where one bad character can trigger a 500.
How two systems request and exchange data through an endpoint, a method, and an auth header, and where that matters in hosting.
Extra domains on one hosting account with their own document roots and email, while sharing the account's resources.
One IP address announced from many locations. Users reach the nearest point, but state and routing remain tricky.
Copies of files and databases for recovery after breakage or bad updates. Frequency, offsite storage, and tested restores beat brochure labels.
Hosting bandwidth is the data moved between your server and visitors each billing period, measured in volume rather than in port speed.
A disk volume attached to a server and formatted with a filesystem. Used for databases, VPS data, and snapshots.
A copy of assets on the visitor's device. The right Cache-Control speeds up return visits without serving stale files.
Repeated login attempts against SSH, wp-login, or cPanel. Limit attempts, enable 2FA, and block the source.
A global server network that speeds up websites by serving content from locations closest to your visitors.
Automate build, test, and release. It speeds up deploys, but database migrations and rollback need planning.
Browser rules for cross-origin requests. A wrong configuration blocks APIs, an overly loose one exposes data.
A tag that tells search engines which URL is primary when one piece of content is reachable through several addresses.
Resources from a pool of servers that can scale. Flexible, but cost and complexity need to be controlled.
DNS proxy + CDN + security in front of origin. Free plans often suffice; SSL and cache settings still need care.
Place your own server in a data center. Full hardware control, but operations remain your responsibility.
Reuse database connections instead of opening one per request. A key practice for busy applications.
A header that limits where scripts, styles, and images can come from. It helps contain XSS, but needs a staged rollout.
Google's three page experience metrics: LCP, INP, and CLS. Understand the thresholds and how to improve them without guessing.
Scheduled server tasks for backups, queues, and maintenance. Bad timing can hammer resources at peak hours.
Cryptographic email signatures so receivers can verify mail from your domain was not altered in transit.
A DNS policy for what receivers should do when SPF or DKIM fails, plus aggregate reports to watch spoofing.
The system that maps domain names to IP addresses, separate from the site files that stay on your host.
DNS instruction rows (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, …) that point names to IPs, mail, and verification services.
DNS security extensions that sign zone data so resolvers can detect forged or altered answers in transit.
An IP address used only by your account. Not required for modern SEO, but useful for legacy apps, allowlists, or some mail cases.
Containers for running applications in a consistent environment. Image, container, volume, and network are the core terms.
The public folder where the web server looks for your site index, often public_html. Wrong root means uploads still 404.
Domain privacy replaces your WHOIS contact fields with a proxy agent's details, hiding your identity but not the domain's structure.
How a DNS change reaches visitors through resolver caches and TTL, not one switch that updates every system at once.
The likelihood that email reaches the inbox, not spam. It depends on authentication, IP and domain reputation, list quality, and sender behavior.
Forward incoming email to another address. Convenient for aliases, but it can break SPF and DKIM when misconfigured.
A cap on PHP processes running at once on a hosting account, often the cause of Error 508, not a daily visitor limit.
Error 429 Too Many Requests appears when a server limits how many requests are allowed in a short window. Understand the mechanism and fixes.
A 500 Internal Server Error means the server failed without saying why, and the real message only lives in the error log.
A 503 Service Unavailable means the server is alive but refusing to serve, either planned maintenance or genuine capacity exhaustion.
FTP moves files on port 21 with clear-text credentials while SFTP runs over SSH on port 22, and most timeouts trace to passive mode or the firewall.
Restrict ports and connection sources on a server. UFW or nftables help, but rule order and Docker can surprise you.
Text compression for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Brotli gives a smaller ratio, gzip is more universal.
A header that forces browsers to use HTTPS. Start with a short max-age before includeSubDomains or preload.
The three-digit number a server returns with every response. It helps separate application, server, and resource problems.
HTTP transfers web pages; HTTPS adds SSL/TLS encryption. Why HTTPS is the default and how to migrate safely.
Protocol versions that change how browsers and servers exchange data. Faster with many assets, not a cure for every problem.
Moving files, databases, mail, and DNS to a new host with a plan that keeps downtime and errors low.
Hotlinking happens when another website loads your files directly from your server URL. Your bandwidth pays the bill. Here is how to prevent it.
Two email retrieval protocols. IMAP syncs with the server, POP3 downloads to a single device.
An IP address is the numeric identity your server answers on, shaping vhost resolution, mail reputation, and rate limiting on a hosting account.
"IPv6 is the replacement for IPv4, offering an effectively endless supply of IP addresses. Learn how it works and when it actually matters for your hosting."
A structure that lets a query find rows without scanning the whole table. The wrong index can slow down writes.
Every file and directory uses one inode, so an account can run out of file slots while the disk quota still looks free.
Delay off-screen images and iframes until needed. It saves bandwidth, but can hurt LCP when applied in the wrong place.
A free CA that issues certificates through ACME HTTP-01 validation on port 80, with a 90-day lifetime and a reload trap after renewal.
A load balancer spreads visitor requests across several servers using distribution algorithms, health checks, and session persistence.
Website malware slips in through outdated plugins, weak logins, or uploads. Learn the warning signs and the right first steps to clean an infection.
The difference in who handles the OS, patches, backups, and monitoring. Choose based on team skills, not price alone.
MySQL and MariaDB are relational database servers that hold your content, users, orders, and settings apart from the files in the document root.
An SSD connected over PCIe, not SATA. Low latency and high IOPS, but it can still be a bottleneck.
Authoritative DNS servers that answer where your domain points. Wrong nameservers mean A/MX edits elsewhere never go public.
OPcache keeps compiled PHP bytecode in memory so later requests skip parsing and compiling.
An object cache keeps database query results in memory so the same query doesn't run over and over. Here's how it works and when WordPress needs one.
Store files as objects in buckets through an HTTP API. Useful for media, backups, and CDN origins.
Modern formats, correct dimensions, and compression that cut bytes without ruining visual quality.
The server-side language that runs a site's logic, where the version and directives decide security, speed, and compatibility.
The RAM limit per PHP process. Raise it for a clear reason, not to hide a leak or a heavy plugin.
PHP-FPM runs PHP through a master process and a pool of workers, so worker count and memory need planning.
A PTR record maps an IP address back to a hostname, powering reverse DNS and outbound email deliverability.
A parked domain serves your primary site's content from the same document root instead of running its own site.
Combine multiple disks for redundancy or performance. RAID is not backup, and rebuilds carry risk.
"RAM is the short-term memory a server uses to run PHP, MySQL, and every live process. Learn how it works and how to size it for your hosting plan."
Two redirect codes with different meanings. Choosing the wrong one can hurt SEO and leave a cached redirect that is hard to undo.
An in-memory data store for cache, sessions, and queues. Fast, but it needs eviction and persistence strategy.
A domain registrar is the accredited company that registers a name with the registry on your behalf, separate from hosting and DNS.
Resell hosting with your own panel and branding. Profit from margin, but you become the first line of support.
A reverse proxy stands in front of your web server: it receives requests, forwards them, and returns responses. Here are its functions and hosting impact.
A text file at the root that controls which paths crawlers may visit. It is not a security tool and not a replacement for noindex.
A service-level agreement covering uptime, support response, and compensation. Read the definitions and exclusions.
The protocol that moves outgoing mail through EHLO, MAIL FROM, RCPT TO, and DATA, with the ports and the accepted-versus-delivered distinction.
A DNS record that lists which servers may send email for your domain, a core anti-spoofing control with DKIM and DMARC.
Encrypted terminal access to a server for Git, CLI, and repairs, deeper than FTP alone.
The layer behind HTTPS that negotiates a session key through the handshake and the certificate chain, while a valid certificate proves nothing about content.
A flood of traffic from many sources that makes a service unavailable. Learn the types, symptoms, and mitigation layers.
Run code without managing servers: event-driven, auto-scaling, pay per use. There are cold starts and execution limits.
Three hosting models with different isolation, control, and cost. Choose based on workload and responsibility.
A point-in-time copy of a VPS disk. Useful before upgrades, but not a replacement for offsite backups.
A copy of your site environment for testing before production, usually on a subdomain with separate files and database.
A domain branch like blog.example.com: useful for staging, apps, or site sections without buying another domain.
The time from request to first byte received. High TTFB usually points to the server, database, or cache.
DNS Time To Live: how long resolvers may cache an answer before asking again. A key lever for propagation speed.
2FA requires a password plus a second code to log in. A practical guide for site owners: turning it on in cPanel, WordPress, and domain accounts.
Uptime is the share of time a service stays reachable, but a monitor only measures the HTTP response it sees from one location.
A web application firewall filters dangerous HTTP requests before they hit the app, it complements updates and backups.
Domain registration records: registrar, expiry, status, and contacts (often redacted). Useful for availability and renewal checks.
WP-CLI runs WordPress from the terminal: core updates, search-replace, cron, and database exports. A practical guide for VPS users and developers.
Storing expensive work (HTML, queries, assets) so the next request is faster and cheaper on server resources.
HTTP software on the server (Apache, Nginx, or LiteSpeed) that serves files and hands work to PHP.
"A wildcard SSL certificate protects *.yourdomain.com (the main domain plus all its subdomains) without issuing a separate certificate for each one."
A list of site URLs in XML format. It helps crawlers find pages, but it does not guarantee indexing or ranking.
A web control panel for managing files, databases, DNS zones, email, PHP, cron, and backups on one hosting account.
A web UI for MySQL/MariaDB: export, import, and emergency SQL. An admin tool, always back up before changing data.
"A vCPU is the virtual processor core you rent on a VPS or cloud plan. Understand how it is allocated and what the number really means for performance."