Glossary

Short explanations of the words you meet in the panel and in these guides, grouped by topic. Each points to the guide where it matters most.

Domains and DNS#

A record#

A DNS record that points a name, such as acme.in, to an IPv4 address, such as 108.181.215.252. Your domain's A record must point at your FiniteHost server. See Connect your domain.

AAAA record#

Like an A record, but for an IPv6 address. Remove old AAAA records left by a previous host, or HTTPS may fail. See HTTPS is not working.

CNAME record#

Makes one name an alias of another. Your www name is a CNAME to your site's CDN host, for example acme-in.b-cdn.net.

MX record#

Tells the world which server receives email for your domain. For FiniteHost mail it is 10 mx1.finitehost.com. See Email accounts.

TXT record#

A DNS record that holds text. Used for SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and by services that ask you to prove you own a domain.

TTL#

Time to live: how many seconds DNS servers may remember a record before asking again. A long TTL makes changes slow to spread. See Check your DNS.

DNS propagation#

The time it takes for a DNS change to reach DNS servers everywhere: minutes to hours, depending on the old TTL.

Nameserver#

The DNS servers that hold your domain's records. You edit records wherever your domain's nameservers are, usually at your registrar or at Cloudflare.

Registrar#

The company you bought your domain from, such as BigRock, GoDaddy or Hostinger. You set your DNS records there.

Websites and security#

CDN#

Content delivery network: servers around the world that keep copies of your site's static files close to visitors. FiniteHost uses Bunny CDN for the www name of each site. See CDN and caching.

Edge#

One of the CDN's servers near your visitors.

Origin#

Your FiniteHost server, where the real files live. The CDN fetches from the origin when it does not have a copy yet.

SSL/TLS certificate#

The file that lets a site use HTTPS: it proves the site's name and encrypts the connection. FiniteHost issues and renews it for you. See HTTPS certificates.

Let's Encrypt#

The free, widely trusted certificate authority that issues your domain's certificates.

HSTS#

HTTP Strict Transport Security: a header that tells browsers to use HTTPS for your site for the next year. FiniteHost sends it once a site has its certificate.

PHP-FPM#

The service that runs your PHP code. Each FiniteHost account has its own, inside its plan's limits. See PHP settings.

Rate limit#

A cap on how many requests one visitor may send per second or minute. Above it they get error 429. See Fix website errors.

Files#

SFTP#

SSH File Transfer Protocol: the secure way to upload and download your files, with apps like FileZilla or WinSCP. FiniteHost uses port 2222. See Connect with SFTP.

SSH key#

A pair of files used to sign in without a password: a private key stays on your computer, the public key (.pub) goes into the panel. See SSH keys for SFTP.

Chroot#

A locked folder view: over SFTP you see only your own account's folders, never the rest of the server. See Folder layout.

Databases#

MariaDB#

The database server for your websites and apps, compatible with MySQL. WordPress and most PHP apps use it. See Databases.

utf8mb4#

The character set your databases use. It stores every language and emoji correctly.

Python apps#

Job#

A Python app that runs, then stops: on demand or on a schedule, for at most 1 hour. See Run Python apps.

Worker#

A Python app that keeps running, such as a bot. It is restarted if it crashes.

Cron#

The traditional name for running programs on a schedule. In the panel, scheduled jobs are listed under Cron jobs. See Schedule Python jobs.

Virtualenv#

A private folder of Python packages for one app, so apps never clash over package versions. FiniteHost makes one for each app.

requirements.txt#

A text file listing the Python packages an app needs, one per line. FiniteHost installs them into the app's virtualenv.

IST#

Indian Standard Time (UTC+5:30). All schedules in the panel use it.

Plans and resources#

vCPU#

A share of a processor core. A plan with 0.5 vCPU may use up to half of one core's time; above that it is slowed down, never stopped. See Plan limits.

cgroup#

The Linux kernel feature that enforces each account's CPU, memory and process limits, so one busy account cannot slow down others.

Subscription id#

Your plan's id, such as t3d2ca2b860. It is your SFTP user name, the prefix of your database names, and the reference to quote to support.

Billing and GST#

GSTIN#

Your 15-character GST identification number. Add it under Profile & GST to get B2B tax invoices. See GST and input tax credit.

SAC#

Services Accounting Code: the GST code for the service. FiniteHost hosting uses SAC 998315.

CGST, SGST and IGST#

The parts of GST. Inside Tamil Nadu (the supplier's state) you pay CGST 9% + SGST 9%; from other states, IGST 18%.

ITC#

Input tax credit: a GST-registered business can set the GST it paid on business purchases against the GST it collects.

GSTR-2B#

The monthly statement on the GST portal listing the invoices your suppliers reported for your GSTIN; it is what you claim ITC from.

Credit note#

A GST document that reduces an earlier invoice, for example after a refund. See Invoices and credit notes.

Grace period#

The 7 days after your paid-until date when everything keeps working while you renew. See Renewals and expiry.

Suspension#

After the grace period, sites show a paused page and sign-ins to mailboxes, databases and SFTP stop; incoming mail is still accepted. Renewing restores everything.