C+/++
C+ and C++ are programming languages. Some hosting companies provide access to C+ and C++ class libraries if your web site contains these types of program modules. Once your web site has been constructed, you will know whether access to C+ or C++ will be required.

Cable Modem
A cable modem is used for connecting to the Internet using the cable TV infrastructure. It offers high speed Internet access.

Cage
One measurement for server space in a colocation facility. Generally, a cage is larger and more secure than a rack.

Catch-all email account
An email account in which an email of the form, anything@yourdomain.com, will go to you. For example, Support@you.com, Webmaster@you.com, and anything-else@you.com, will all be sent to the account (some hosts allow you to have these sent to different accounts) set up for you.

CCIT
Comite Consultatif International Telegraphique et Telephonique (International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee). International telecommunication standards body.

CDF
Channel Definition Format. A way of defining the server-push channels for accessing frequently changing web content.

CERN
(Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire) A nuclear research laboratory where the World Wide Web was invented.

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
A directory on the server where the executable CGI scripts reside.

CGI scripts
CGI "scripts" are just scripts which use CGI. These scripts are usually written in PERL or C++ and are usually placed in the web directory and called through a form. CGI scripts link the server and a program running on the system; for example, CGI scripts are used with interactive forms.

Chat Server / Software
Some hosting companies allow you to develop a chat room or other type of chat service for your visitors. Be sure to check with the web host company about the details of the chat services offered. Some servers permit you to configure the service, and others pre-configure everything for you while others do not allow chat rooms at all.

Click Through
This term is used to describe the ratio of clicks to impressions on an advertisement, usually a banner ad. If a banner has been shown 100 times and 3 people click on it, it will have a 3% click through ratio.

Client
A software program that is used to contact and obtain data from a Server software program on another computer, often across a great distance. 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 Web Browser is a specific kind of Client.

Cluster
A group of several servers that share work and may be able to back each other up if one server fails is considered clustered.

Cobalt RaQ
Server appliance made by Cobalt specifically for hosting companies.

Cold Fusion
Cold Fusion is a scripting language for web designers that want wish to do advanced development and/or database interfacing. Cold Fusion supports MS Access, dBASE, FoxPro, and Paradox databases.

Co-location
Most often used to refer to having a server that belongs to one person or group physically located on an Internet-connected network that belongs to another person or group. Usually this is done because the server owner wants their machine to be on a high-speed Internet connection and/or they do not want the security risks of having the server on thier own network.

Command-line Interface
The opposite of the GUI (Graphical User Interface). A way of interacting with a computer system using the keyboard and a text-only display. Usually more powerful, but less user-friendly thatn a GUI.

Contact Record
In the case of many registries, contact information for technical, billing and administrative purposes are maintained in their database. It is important to keep your contact records updated to ensure that billing and renewal can proceed without problems.

Control Panel
An online package of tools permitting easy site management and editing. Almost all hosting companies provide this option today. It is a very important feature to have. By having your own control panel, you can maintain basic information about your site, mail boxes, etc. without having to send emails to the hosting company or call them on the phone.

Cookie
If you have ever been to a web site like ivillage.com, iwon.com, or amazon.com, you may notice your name on the page in a message like "Welcome Back John!" This is because your browser stored a tiny cookie file that enabled their server to identify you from the first time that you registered with them. This saves regular visitors or customers of your site time from having to log in and log out every time they visit your site.

Crawler
Also known as spider, an automated software that retrieves webpages and follows the hyperlinks contained in them. Used to generate indexes used by search engines.

Credit Cart Billing
What is a merchant account? Why do I need one? A merchant account gives a business the ability to accept credit cards as payment for the company's goods and services. It provides your customers with an extremely popular payment option, beyond cash and checks. This is usually done via a 3rd party provider.

Cross Platform
Different computing systems being able to share data.

CSS
Used to add more functionality to simple HTML pages. Internet Explorer 3.0 and up support a good portion of CSS, while Netscape 4.0 and up supports a small amount of CSS - a fully compliant browser does not exist yet.

Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk was originally a cultural sub-genre of science fiction taking place in a not-so-distant, dystopian, over-industrialized society. The term grew out of the work of William Gibson and Bruce Sterling and has evolved into a cultural label encompassing many different kinds of human, machine, and punk attitudes. It includes clothing and lifestyle choices as well.

Cyberspace
Term originated by author William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer the word Cyberspace is currently used to describe the whole range of information resources available through computer networks.