Common hosting terms
Shared hosting — Multiple websites hosted on the same physical server, sharing its CPU, RAM, and disk resources. The cheapest option, but performance can be affected by other sites on the same server.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) — A physical server split into isolated virtual machines, each with its own guaranteed CPU, RAM, and disk allocation. More control and consistency than shared hosting, without the cost of a dedicated server.
Dedicated server — An entire physical server allocated to a single customer, with no resource sharing. The most expensive tier, typically used for large-scale or highly sensitive workloads.
Cloud hosting — Infrastructure built from a pool of virtualized compute resources, usually billed hourly or by usage, that can scale up or down on demand. DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Linode are examples of cloud compute providers.
Managed hosting — A plan where the provider handles server maintenance, security patching, backups, and updates on your behalf, in exchange for a higher price than a comparable unmanaged plan.
Unmanaged hosting — A plan where you're responsible for OS updates, security configuration, and software maintenance yourself. Usually cheaper, and expected for providers like DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Linode.
Managed WordPress hosting — Hosting purpose-built for WordPress, typically including automatic core/plugin updates, WordPress-specific caching, staging environments, and security hardening. Kinsta and WP Engine are examples.
vCPU (virtual CPU) — A share of a physical CPU core allocated to your server. "Shared vCPU" means that share can be contended by other tenants under load; "dedicated" or "guaranteed" vCPU means it's reserved for your use.
NVMe storage — Solid-state storage connected via the NVMe protocol, significantly faster than SATA SSDs for read/write operations — increasingly the standard for VPS and cloud disks.
Uptime — The percentage of time a server is operational and reachable. Most providers publish an uptime SLA (commonly 99.9% or better) and may offer service credits if it's not met.
Bandwidth / data transfer — The amount of data that can move in and out of your server each month before overage charges apply. "Unmetered" means the provider doesn't cap this for normal use, though acceptable-use limits still apply.
CDN (Content Delivery Network) — A distributed network of edge servers that cache and serve static content (images, CSS, JS) from a location close to each visitor, reducing load times and origin server load.
TTFB (Time to First Byte) — The time between a browser requesting a page and receiving the first byte of the response. A common (though not sole) proxy for server-side responsiveness.
PHP worker — A process that executes PHP code (such as WordPress) for a single request at a time. More PHP workers let a site handle more concurrent requests — a common scaling lever on managed WordPress plans.
Root access — Full administrative control over a server's operating system. Available on unmanaged and self-managed VPS plans; typically restricted or unavailable on managed and shared hosting.
Staging environment — A private copy of a live site used to test changes (updates, code, design) before pushing them to production.
SSL/TLS certificate — A certificate that encrypts traffic between a visitor's browser and the server (the padlock/HTTPS in the address bar). Most hosts now include free certificates (commonly via Let's Encrypt).
DDoS protection — Infrastructure-level filtering that absorbs or blocks distributed denial-of-service traffic before it reaches your server.