Alias An email address that automatically forwards to a different, real email address. An alias does not have a POP account.
Anonymous FTP Allowing a visitor to log into an FTP server without identifying themself, to allow file downloads to the general public.
ASP Active Server Pages - a Microsoft technology that allows HTML pages to include small snippets of embedded scripts somewhat similar to server-side includes (SSI) or Common Gateway Interface (CGI).
Autoresponder A tool which emails a message automatically to the sender of an incoming email.
Backbone A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network.
Bandwidth The amount of data sent through a connection, usually measured in bits-per-second.
Browser The software used to view websites, such as Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer.
Certificate Authority An issuer of Security Certificates used in SSL connections.
CGI Common Gateway Interface - A set of rules that describe how a Web Server communicates with another piece of software on the same machine, and how the other piece of software (the “CGI program”) talks to the web server. Any piece of software can be a CGI program if it handles input and output according to the CGI standard. Usually a CGI program is a small program that takes data from a web server and does something with it, like putting the content of a form into an e-mail message, or turning the data into a database query. You can often see that a CGI program is being used by seeing “cgi-bin” in a URL, but not always.
cgi-bin The most common name of a directory on a web server in which CGI programs are stored. The “bin” part of “cgi-bin” is a shorthand version of “binary”. Most programs found in cgi-bin directories are text files -- scripts that are executed by binaries located elsewhere on the same machine.
Chat Room or 
Conference Room		 A place on the Internet where people go to "talk" in real time with other people in the "room". The rooms are usually organized by topic.
Client Software that is used to contact and obtain data from a server software program on another computer. Each Client program is designed to work with one or more specific kinds of server programs, and each server requires a specific kind of Client. A browser is a specific kind of client.
Cold Fusion A database-to-web connectivity program.
Counter A number on many web pages that will count the number of times a web page is accessed via the internet.
Domain The unique name that identifies an internet site. Domain names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The name on the right must be a valid InterNIC extension, and the full name must be registered with the InterNIC. A given machine may have more than one domain name but a given domain name points to only one machine.
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions - a list which usually serves as a mini-help file.
Forum A set of message boards and/or chat rooms relating to a common subject.
Frontpage A MicroSoft web design program which uses some special configurations when published to the internet.
FTP File Transfer Protocol - the tool used to transfer files through the internet from one computer to another. FTP is used to upload websites to the host server.
GIG Gigabyte, or 1024 Megabytes
Hit As used in reference to web sites, “hit” means a single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server; thus in order for a web browser to display a page that contains 3 graphics, 4 “hits” would occur at the server: 1 for the HTML page, and one for each of the 3 graphics. “Hits” are often used as a very rough measure of load on a server, e.g. “Our server has been getting 300,000 hits per month.” Because each “hit” can represent anything from a request for a tiny document (or even a request for a missing document) all the way to a request that requires some significant extra processing (such as a complex search request), the actual load on a machine from 1 hit is almost impossible to define.
Host The computer on which a web site is physically located.
InterNIC The organization currently responsibly for the registration and maintenance of domain records locateted at www.networksolutions.com.
IP Number Internet Protocol Number - A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g. 255.997.432.5 Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the internet. IP Numbers are assigned to domain names to make it easier for people to remember addresses. A web site can be accessed through either its IP number or its domain name.
IP-less Hosting A process which allows our resellers to depend on technology built into web browsers and into our DNS that does not require a dedicated IP for a website on our servers.  All of our main hosting accounts have a dedicated IP address (per our agreements), but sites purchased through resellers may or may not, depending on said reseller's policies.
ISP Internet Service Provider - the company you pay which allows you to connect your computer to the internet via your modem (the company your modem dials), or a web hosting or web presence provider such as NovaTech.
Java A programming language that developers use to create applets, small programs that are embedded in Web pages and that run when a user accesses the page or clicks on a certain area. If you have visited sites that play sounds, have animated figures trotting across the screen, or display scrolling text, you have already seen Java.
Mailing List An automated system that allows people to send e-mail to one address, whereupon their message is copied and sent to all of the other subscribers to the maillist. In this way, people who have many different kinds of e-mail access can participate in discussions together.
MB Megabyte - one million bytes. Actually, technically, 1024 kilobytes.
Message Board Web page(s) which show messages and their replies in consecutive order so others may read them, and post their own replies. Boards are usually organized by topics.
ODBC Open DataBase Connectivity is a standard for accessing databases via external programs.  This feature is fully supported by NovaTech.
POP Post Office Protocol - An Internet protocol that enables a single user to read e-mail from a mail server. 

Point Of Presence - usually means a city or location where a network can be connected to, often with dial up phone lines.
Protocol A set of rules that lets computers agree how to communicate over the Internet.
Redirect Commanding one domain address to automatically forward a user's browser to another domain address. This is often used when a company changes their web site address.
Secure Transaction A method of using browser security to enable people to send confidential information such as credit card numbers over the internet safely.
Security Certificate Information (often stored as a text file) that is used by the SSL protocol to establish a secure connection. Security Certificates contain information about who it belongs to, who it was issued by, a unique serial number or other unique identification, valid dates, and an encrypted “fingerprint” that can be used to verify the contents of the certificate. In order for an SSL connection to be created both sides must have a valid Security Certificate.
Server A computer, or a software package, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a WWW server, or to the machine on which the software is running, e.g.Our mail server is down today, that’s why e-mail isn’t getting out. A single server machine could have several different server software packages running on it, thus providing many different servers to clients on the network.
Spam (or Spamming) The Internet version of junk mail. Spamming is sending the same unsolicited message to a large number of mailing lists or newsgroups usually to advertise something.
SQL Structured Query Language - A specialized programming language for sending queries to databases. Most industrial-strength and many smaller database applications can be addressed using SQL. Each specific application will have its own version of SQL implementing features unique to that application, but all SQL-capable databases support a common subset of SQL.
SSL Secure Sockets Layer - a program layer created by Netscape for managing the security of message transmissions in a network.  Netscape's idea is that the programming for keeping your messages confidential ought to be contained in a program layer between an application (such as your Web browser or HTTP) and the Internet's TCP/IP layers.  The "sockets" part of the term refers to the sockets method of passing data back and forth between a client and a server program in a network or between program layers in the same computer.  Netscape's SSL uses the public-and-private key encryption system from RSA, which also includes the use of a digital certificate.  An SSL connection is essential in order to maintain privacy and security of data when submitting credit card numbers and personal details, etc.  Netscape Navigator, for example, will show either a solid blue line underneath the toolbar or a closed and locked padlock in the lower left corner of your window when an SSL connection has been made.  Another good indication is the prefix "http://" being replaced with "https://"
Statistics Performance reports which reflect the amount of traffic on a site, the number of erros which are encountered, where browsers access the site from, etc.
T1 A leased-line connection capable of carrying data up to 1.536 million bits per second (1.536Mbps). At maximum theoretical capacity, a T-1 line could move a megabyte in less than 10 seconds. That is still not fast enough for full-screen, full-motion video, for which you need at least 10,000,000 bits-per-second. T-1 is the fastest speed commonly used to connect networks to the Internet.
T3 A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits-per-second. This is more than enough to do full-screen, full-motion video.
URL Uniform Resource Locator. It's the address of each web site and usually begins with "http://"