Most if these explanations are available on our FAQ page but we have added a little more. Its probably not that important to know all of this but, like any industry, we find ourselves slipping into a flurry of acronyms that only we understand. I feel exactly the same way when I visit my accountant or doctor. I sit there completely baffled while trying to maintain a face of knowing interest.
So lets start and make this a simple bullet list. I have borrowed some of these definitions, to be honest, its because I struggled to define many of them myself:
What is a Website?
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a set of related web pages served from a single web domain [I'll get to this]. A website is hosted on at least one web server [yep, read on], accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet address known as a Uniform resource locator [URL sound familiar - this was new to me]. All publicly accessible websites collectively constitute the World Wide Web.
Okay! That was pretty easy. Bet you $5 you didn't know the definition of URL. Ask your IT person if they know it...
What is a Web Server?
The computer hardware that provides World Wide Web services on the Internet, a Web server includes the hardware, operating system, server software, and the Web site content. Web servers process requests from Browsers for web pages and serves them up via HTTP.
WHAT? Simply, it is a computer or set of computer that have a single or bunch of sites files sitting on it. These computers are accessible to the internet. There is no reason why your home computer couldn't be a "server". However the Servers we use are VERY powerful and VERY secure. Like one of those room filling behemoths from the 80's.
What is HTTP?
HyperText Transfer Protocol... Ahhh don't bother, its basically a technical thing no one really needs to know. However you will hear the term HTTPS, all that means is that the address (domain) can be secured with a SSL [yes I'll get there]. Useful and often mantatory for eCommerce sites.
What is a Domain?
Its that important thing you spend $35 a year on. Its unique, its like the physical address of your business only is "virtual" You enter it in the address bar or link to from Google. But if you want technicalities: An addressing construct used for identifying and locating computers on the Internet. Domain names provide a system of easy-to-remember Internet addresses, which can be translated by the Domain Name System (DNS) into the numeric addresses (Internet Protocol (IP) numbers) used by a network. (webdaily.co.nz and google.com are domains)
IP Address?
If you are thinking Intellectual Property, Wrong! Every computer connected to the Internet must have a unique address known as an IP (Internet Protocol) address. The IP address is a numeric address written as a set of four numbers separated by dots, for example 202.12.123.59. The address provides a unique identification of a computer and the network it belongs to. There are new IP6 addresses now to compensate for the ever dwindling amount of IP's out there. Those have Really big numbers.
DNS?
This one is pretty simple, Domain Name Service. We created domain names because they are easy to remember (and you can something awesome like www.discodancer.com) however the internet uses the IP address to locate your website. What DNS does is translate the domain name into the corresponding IP address. Bam!
FTP?
File Transfer Protocol. Allows the transfer of one or more files from one computer to another across the Internet. Usually from a personal computer to a Server or vice versa.
This is typically required for straight up hosting, dedicated or shared. You need to copy your website up to the server. When you make changes you need to do the same. Now FTP is not needed if you have a Content Management System, like the Web Daily Pioneer. The "CMS" takes care of all that for you, you just edit the site as you would a text document and you are done.
Right so that should have enlightened you a small amount. You are not required to know any of it really, though it helps in those all too familiar cases where a "professional" goes off on an acronym tirade, while trying to explain the benefits of this or that.
Marc