Hosting Glossary
Every technical term you will encounter when you start hosting websites.
No hosting jargon left unexplained. We have defined everything so you never have to pretend you know what a reverse proxy is while nodding along in a meeting.
Anycast routing sends requests to the nearest server automatically, reducing latency for visitors worldwide. CloudSonic uses anycast delivery on every plan via Cloudflare Enterprise.
Bot protection identifies and blocks automated threats before they reach your server. CloudSonic filters malicious bots in real time without affecting legitimate visitors or search crawlers.
Brotli is a modern compression algorithm that makes web pages load faster by reducing file sizes. CloudSonic enables Brotli compression on every server as standard.
A brute force attack tries thousands of password combinations to gain unauthorised access. CloudSonic blocks brute force attempts automatically at the server level before they can succeed.
A CDN delivers your website content from servers close to each visitor reducing load times globally. CloudSonic includes Cloudflare Enterprise CDN on every hosting plan at no extra cost.
Core Web Vitals are Google's metrics for measuring real world page speed and user experience. CloudSonic's infrastructure is tuned to help your site score well across all three metrics.
A cron job is a scheduled task that runs automatically at a set time on your server. CloudSonic gives you full root access so you can configure and manage cron jobs however you need.
A database backup is a copy of your database stored separately so it can be restored if something goes wrong. CloudSonic backs up all databases daily with one click restore included.
Database replication copies your data across multiple nodes in real time for redundancy and performance. CloudSonic managed databases run on a 3 node replication setup as standard.
DDoS protection absorbs large scale traffic attacks at the network level before they reach your server. CloudSonic includes enterprise grade DDoS mitigation on every plan via Cloudflare.
DNS translates domain names into IP addresses so browsers can find your website. CloudSonic manages DNS configuration for you as part of the Cloudflare Enterprise onboarding process.
Edge caching stores copies of your pages on servers close to your visitors for faster delivery. CloudSonic's edge cache serves full page responses from the nearest global location automatically.
An edge node is a server located close to end users that delivers cached content with minimal latency. CloudSonic uses Cloudflare's network of 310+ edge nodes to serve your content globally.
HTTP/2 is a faster version of the HTTP protocol that loads multiple resources simultaneously. CloudSonic enables HTTP/2 on every server by default so your site benefits without any configuration.
HTTP/3 is the latest version of HTTP built on the QUIC protocol for faster and more reliable connections. CloudSonic infrastructure is HTTP/3 ready as part of the Cloudflare Enterprise stack.
Load balancing distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers to prevent overload and improve reliability. CloudSonic's infrastructure is built to handle traffic distribution at the network level.
MariaDB is an open source relational database and a drop in replacement for MySQL with additional performance features. CloudSonic offers fully managed MariaDB on every hosting plan.
MySQL is the world's most widely used open source relational database. CloudSonic offers fully managed MySQL with automated backups, replication, and performance tuning included.
Nginx is a high performance web server used to serve websites and act as a reverse proxy. CloudSonic runs Nginx mainline on every server, configured and maintained by our team.
NVMe storage is a type of solid state drive significantly faster than standard SSDs. Every CloudSonic server ships with NVMe storage as standard delivering faster database reads and file access.
Object storage is a scalable way to store files, media, and backups separately from your server. CloudSonic offers S3 compatible object storage across four providers including AWS and Backblaze B2.
PostgreSQL is a powerful open source relational database known for reliability and advanced features. CloudSonic offers fully managed PostgreSQL with TimescaleDB, automated backups, and replication.
Redis is an in memory data store used for caching, sessions, and queues. CloudSonic installs and manages Redis on every server, configured for maximum performance as a WordPress object cache.
A REST API is an interface that lets applications communicate over HTTP using standard methods. CloudSonic's API hosting plans are built for the uptime and low latency that production REST APIs demand.
A reverse proxy sits between your visitors and your server, handling requests and improving security and performance. CloudSonic uses Nginx as a reverse proxy on every server by default.
Root access gives you full administrative control over your server at the operating system level. CloudSonic includes full root access on every plan for developers and agencies who need it.
S3 compatible storage follows Amazon's S3 API standard so any tool built for S3 works without modification. CloudSonic object storage is fully S3 compatible across all four supported providers.
An SLA is a commitment from a hosting provider guaranteeing a minimum level of uptime and support response. CloudSonic offers a 99.9% uptime SLA backed by Cloudflare Enterprise infrastructure.
An SSH key is a cryptographic credential used to securely authenticate to a server without a password. CloudSonic servers use SSH key authentication only with password login disabled by default.
An SSL certificate encrypts the connection between your website and its visitors protecting data in transit. CloudSonic provisions and renews SSL certificates automatically on every hosted site.
A staging environment is an identical copy of your live site used for testing changes safely before going live. CloudSonic includes staging environments on every plan so you never test on production.
A status page communicates the live uptime and incident status of your services to your users in real time. CloudSonic lets you create and publish branded status pages for any website or application.
TLS is the encryption protocol that secures data transferred between browsers and web servers. CloudSonic enforces TLS 1.2 and 1.3 on every server with older insecure versions disabled by default.
TTFB measures how long it takes for a browser to receive the first byte of data from your server. CloudSonic's stack is tuned to minimise TTFB through Nginx, Redis caching, and edge delivery.
Two factor authentication adds a second verification step to logins making accounts significantly harder to compromise. CloudSonic recommends and supports two factor authentication across your hosting account.
Uptime is the percentage of time your website is online and accessible to visitors. CloudSonic backs every hosting plan with a 99.9% uptime SLA and monitors all servers around the clock.
A VPS is a virtual private server that gives you dedicated resources on shared physical hardware. CloudSonic manages the VPS layer for you so you get the power of a VPS without the admin overhead.
A WAF filters malicious HTTP requests before they reach your application blocking common attack vectors. CloudSonic includes an enterprise grade WAF on every plan configured and maintained by our team.
WebSocket is a protocol that enables real time two way communication between a browser and a server. CloudSonic supports WebSocket connections out of the box on all application and API hosting plans.
WooCommerce is the leading ecommerce plugin for WordPress powering millions of online stores worldwide. CloudSonic's managed WordPress hosting is tuned for WooCommerce performance and security.
WordPress is the world's most popular content management system powering over 40% of all websites. CloudSonic's managed WordPress hosting is built specifically for WordPress speed, security, and scale.
XML-RPC is a WordPress feature that allows remote procedure calls over HTTP. CloudSonic's WAF blocks XML-RPC abuse by default as it is a common vector for brute force and DDoS attacks on WordPress sites.
A zero day vulnerability is a security flaw that is exploited before a patch is available. CloudSonic applies WAF rule updates continuously to protect your site at the network level before patches exist.
