Database
When we speak of databases for web hosting we are usually talking about web sites that need to add, delete, and update large quantities of information via the web. There are many different types of database systems available. Some of these include MS Access, MySQL, SQL Server, and Oracle Databases. If you plan on using ASP more than likely you will need your hosting company to have a database.

Data Transfer
This is the amount of data that you are allowed to transfer with your account. Data is this case usually referrs to images, text, or anthing else that the web server must transfer to the user's web browser. As a general rule 500 MB of data transfer is equivilant to about 20,000 page views.

D Channel
The ISDN signaling channel. Runs at 16 or 64 Kbps.

Dedicated
A more expensive type of account in which the web hosting company provides you with an entire hosting setup including your own server hardware that only you can use. This usually means a much faster loading time for your site because the entire computer is "dedicated" to running the server software. This is different from most other hosting accounts in which your web site will share space on a server with many other web sites, called a virtual server. A dedicated server makes sense for web sites that require higher availability and higher data transfer rates.

DES
Data Encryption Standard - an U.S. government approved cipher. It is easy to break in its simplest form, but used multiple times with key of at least 128 bits provides good security.

Detail Web Statistics
Comprehensive daily graphical reports on your website visitor demographics. Allows you to monitor how much traffic goes to your Website.

DHCP
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. An automated way of obtaining an IP address in the Local Area Network.

Dial up
Dialup access is a way of connecting a computer to the Internet using a modem and the telephone line. It is rather slow and blocks the telephone line.

Digerati
The digital version of literati, it is a reference to a vague cloud of people seen to be knowledgeable, hip, or otherwise in-the-know in regards to the digital revolution.

Directory Aliasing
If you want different domain names point to different directories of your web site, then you need DIR Aliasing. For DIR aliases, we assign a unique IP address and create a folder in your root directory, as the home directory of DIR Alias. Ftp connections and e-mails are routed to the your main domain.

Disk Space
Refers to the amount of server disk storage your account is allocated. One of the factors in how much you'll pay for Web hosting is how much space you will need to store your Web pages. Disk space is usually reported in megabytes (MB). The amount of space you will need depends on the number of pages in your Web, and more importantly, on the number and size of your graphic images. Although it is difficult to determine exactly how much space you will need, keep in mind that you can get about 100,000 words on a single floppy disk, or 1.44MB.

DNS
Domain Name System. A distributed database of information that is used to translate domain names into Internet Protocol (IP) numbers.

In other words, computers need numbers in order to function. The computer itself does not care whether you are yahoo.com or google.com. It has no idea how to find the name, it needs a number that identifies that name.

So when you buy a domain, say www.whatever.com, it is nothing until you get it hosted somewhere and until that host assigns a number to your domain. A good analogy of this would be social security numbers and humans. Humans are identified primarily by their names, but government organizations use social security numbers to identify the person behind that name.

Domain Name
The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general. A given machine may have more than one Domain Name but a given Domain Name points to only one machine. For example, the domain names: candidinfo.com, ftp.candidinfo.com, whatever.candidinfo.com can all refer to the same machine, but each domain name can refer to no more than one machine.

Domain Name Registration
Often a hosting company will offer to register your domain name at the time you sign up for a hosting plan. This normally incurs an additional charge but may be cheaper and more convenient than using a separate domain name registration service. We recommend that you go ahead and register your domain name as soon as possible, especially if you think it will take some time to develop the site itself. Click here for a list of domain name registration companies.

Domain Parking
Many hosting companies give you the option to 'park' your domain name without actually having your web site up and running. This is a nice option if you want to acquire a domain name for your web site well ahead of having the web site itself designed and constructed.

Downtime
The amount of time your Web site is disconnected or inaccessible via the Internet is known as down-time.

DSL
Digital Subscriber Line. A better way of connecting a computer to the Internet using the telephone line. It's faster than the dialup and doesn't block the telephone line. However, it is more expensive because the special equipment is required.