Glossary Definitions starting with Letter F

Terms that will help you understand hosting services. Internet reference and glossary of Web Hosting Terms and Definitions. Please select a letter to jump to that section of The Glossary.

A glossary is defined as an alphabetical list of technical terms in some specialized field of knowledge; usually published as an appendix to a text on that field. This Web Hosting Glossary section is specially designed to explain most of the terms that you should read and understand before you choose your web hosting service provider.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

FAQs are documents that list and answer the most common questions on a particular subject. There are hundreds of FAQs on subjects as diverse as Pet Grooming and Cryptography. FAQs are usually written by people who have tired of answering the same question over and over.

FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface)

A cable used for transmitting data as a light wave. A fiber optic cable is composed of one or more optical fibers. It is more expensive that copper wire, but offers higher transmission speeds and allows for communication over larger distances.

File Manager

FileManager is a multi-user, Web-based file directory and remote command manager for Unix operating systems.

Filtering

Screening network packets for certain properties, such as the source or destination address, protocol used or even a pattern in the data. It is used in firewalls in order to decide if the traffic is to be forwarded or rejected. Provides the basis for network security.

Finger

An Internet software tool for locating people on other Internet sites. Finger is also sometimes used to give access to non-personal information, but the most common use is to see if a person has an account at a particular Internet site. Many sites do not allow incoming Finger requests, but many do.

Fire Wall

Firewall refers to either software-only or separate software and hardware combination that serves to protect an internal network or a computer from attacks and unauthorized access by sitting between the Internet and the internal network.
See also : ( LAN )

Flash, Flash Generator

Flash is a plug-in and web development application from Macromedia. Files created in Flash combine animation, sound and interaction and take advantage of a vector-based format to minimize file size.

Flash Generator takes advantage of the application architecture to produce Flash elements dynamically.

Flame

An insulting email message sent to an individual as punishment for not adhering to the netiquette. Can be sometimes seen in the newsgroups or on internet message boards.
See also: ( Mailing List )

Form

HTML documents designed with fill-in text boxes, lists of options, and other elements that allow the user of the form to send information back to the web server. (E.g. registration form, order form, etc.)

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

Very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a special way to login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files. There are many Internet sites that have established publicly accessible repositories of material that can be obtained using FTP, by logging in using the account name anonymous, thus these sites are called anonymous ftp servers.

See also: ( Web Sever )

FTPmail

Using email messages to access the FTP sites. Requires a special software installed on the server.

Front Page

Front Page is an HTML editor made by Microsoft. It is commonly used to create web pages.

FrontPage® 2002 Extensions

Microsoft® FrontPage® 2002 Server Extensions (FPSE) are used frequently by hosting providers to enable users to upload their FrontPage-created sites. Microsoft® FrontPage® is a Web site creation and management software tool that allows you to create and maintain Web sites.