Have you ever wondered what all of those funny technical "features" mean when you are reading the feature list from web hosting providers such as Hostgator, 1&1, bluehost and many others? Well, we were wondering the same thing when we were researching for a web hosting provider. So we decided to document a list terms so we can reference from time to time. Any additions or corrections are welcomed. The terminology that we reference in this page are based on our findings  during our review of the Hostgator web hosting service.

Bandwidth - The amount of bandwidth allocated by your hosting plan is analogous to the amount of fuel in your gas tank. Your tank can hold only so much gas and likewise, your hosting account is allocated only so much bandwidth.  A typical bandwidth of 1Gbits of transfers per month is equivalent to about 100,000 page loads per month...give or take a few thousand page hits.   This means that if your website has a lot of visitors and thus a lot of traffic, your bandwidth allocation gets used up much more quickly.  After reviewing public data from Hostgator hosting accounts, a typical account utilizes about 2Gbits per month.  However, Hostgator's lowest cost hosting plan, the Hatchling, will allocate 3Gbits to your bandwidth needs...well above the average bandwidth use.  Furthermore, Hostgator's more popular hosting plan, the Baby Croc hosting plan, will allow you to have up to 6Gbits of transfers per month.  This is equivalent to 600,000 page hits per month...well beyond the needs of your average website. Your bandwidth number used will also reset back to zero on the first of every month...so every month is a new month as far as bandwidth usage goes.

Domains Allowed - Domains are the names of the websites that you would like to operate.  For instance, the domain for the website that you are viewing is called optionsoutlet.org.  Most web hosting companies will advertise the number of domains a user can have on any one account depending on the hosting plan that you are interested in.  For example, a Hostgator.com Baby Croc hosting plan will allow an unlimited number of domains in the account.  However, if you choose Hostgator's Hatchling plan, you are only allowed one domain per account.

Subdomains - A normal domain name looks like www.optionsoutlet.org. A sub domain looks like sub.domain.com. For example, optionstrading.optionsoutlet.org  is a sub domain name of our site www.optionsoutlet.org.

Backups - backups are a necessity for your website.  Not all hosting companies will provide an easy way for you to instantly backup your files and website information.  Hostgator is one of the few hosting companies that provides you a way of automating your backups.  Its control panel gives you to option to make an 'instant' backup of your entire cPanel account. It will archive your account and provide you with a link to download the backup. You can then use this backup file to restore your account on our servers if need be. This backup gets everything associated with your account: e-mail accounts (including the passwords and messages still on the system), FTP accounts, add-on/sub/parked domains, databases, mailing lists, everything that is setup with the account.

PHP - PHP is a server side HTML embedded scripting language. All Hostgator accounts come with support for 5.2.0.

OpenSSH - OpenSSH Protocol (using Jailed Shell) makes it easier to develop and debug the files in your website with such text editors as vim and nano. Hostgator allows you to utilize OpenSSH.  However, it is not automatic. To request OpenSSH access, you will need to E-Mail support@hostgator.com.

FrontPage - Frontpage is a website creation tool that can be used to both create and upload your site when FP extensions are installed. Most web hosting providers will support FrontPage, which is a Microsoft application.  For example, Host gator will support all existing versions of Microsoft Frontpage extensions.

To find information on hostgator coupons or hostgator signup codes visit the following websites:

Hostgator Discount Coupon Codes - this site has links to other hostgator review websites, in addition to updated signup hostgator coupon codes.

Hostgator Web Hosting Coupons - this site provides a step-by-step guide to properly enter your Hostgator discount promo code during the signup process. Any hostgator coupon code as be applied using the procedures outlined in this webpage.