The most widely-deployed open-source web server. Reliable but slower than LiteSpeed for PHP and WordPress workloads.
A record
A DNS record that maps a domain name to an IPv4 address (e.g. example.co.ke → 136.243.37.45). The most basic DNS record. AAAA does the same for IPv6.
B
Backup
A copy of your website files and database stored separately, used to restore after data loss. Hostiko keeps daily backups for 7+ days on every plan.
Bandwidth
The amount of data your hosting account can transfer to visitors per month. Most modern hosts offer "unmetered" bandwidth with a fair-use policy.
C
CDN
Content Delivery Network. A network of servers worldwide that cache static parts of your site (images, CSS) and serve them from the location closest to each visitor. Cloudflare is the most popular free CDN.
CNAME
A DNS record that aliases one domain name to another (e.g. www.example.co.ke → example.co.ke). Useful for subdomain redirects.
cPanel
A commercial hosting control panel — the industry standard for years. DirectAdmin is a modern, faster alternative we prefer at Hostiko.
CSR
Certificate Signing Request — a block of encrypted text generated when you order a paid SSL. Modern hosts use Let's Encrypt and avoid CSR entirely.
D
DDoS
Distributed Denial of Service attack — overwhelming a server with traffic to take it offline. Mitigation requires firewalls, rate-limiting, or a service like Cloudflare.
DirectAdmin
A modern hosting control panel. Lightweight, fast, secure. What Hostiko uses on all hosting plans.
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail — a DNS record that cryptographically signs outbound email, proving it really came from your domain. Critical for email deliverability.
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance — a DNS record that tells receiving mail servers what to do with email that fails SPF/DKIM checks.
DNS
Domain Name System. The internet's phone book — translates domain names like example.co.ke into IP addresses computers actually use.
Domain
The human-readable name for your website (e.g. yourbiz.co.ke). Separate from hosting — domains are registered annually with a registry like KENIC.
E
EPP code
A "transfer authorisation code" you get from your current registrar when moving a domain to a new registrar. Also called auth code.
F
FTP
File Transfer Protocol — the old standard for uploading files to a web server. SFTP (over SSH) is the modern, encrypted version. Hostiko supports both.
H
Hosting
Disk space, bandwidth, and computing power for your website on a server connected to the internet. Different from a domain (the address).
HSTS
HTTP Strict Transport Security — a response header that forces browsers to use HTTPS for future visits. Strong protection against downgrade attacks.
HTTPS
HTTP over TLS/SSL — encrypted version of HTTP. Required for any modern website. Free via Let's Encrypt.
I
IMAP
Internet Message Access Protocol — for reading email on a server (keeps messages on the server, syncs across devices). The modern alternative to POP3.
K
KENIC
Kenya Network Information Centre — the official registry for all .ke domain extensions (.co.ke, .or.ke, .ac.ke, .sc.ke, etc.).
L
Let's Encrypt
A free, automated certificate authority that issues SSL certificates. Powers HTTPS for millions of sites including all Hostiko hosting plans.
LiteSpeed
A commercial high-performance web server. Drop-in replacement for Apache, typically 5–10× faster for PHP and WordPress. Hostiko runs LiteSpeed.
M
M-Pesa
Safaricom's mobile money platform. Hostiko's primary payment method for Kenyan customers via KopoKopo STK Push.
MX record
Mail eXchanger DNS record — tells the internet which server handles email for your domain. Required for receiving email.
N
Nameserver
A server that answers DNS queries for a domain. Every domain has 2+ nameservers. Hostiko's are ns1.hostiko.co.ke and ns2.hostiko.co.ke.
NVMe SSD
A modern type of solid-state drive significantly faster than legacy SATA SSDs. Hostiko uses NVMe across all hosting tiers.
P
PesaPal
A pan-African payment gateway. Hostiko uses PesaPal for international card payments (Visa, Mastercard, Amex) and as a fallback for Kenyan customers.
PHP
A server-side programming language that powers WordPress, Magento, Laravel and ~75% of all websites. Hostiko supports PHP 7.4 through 8.3.
POP3
Post Office Protocol — older email retrieval protocol that downloads mail to one device and removes it from the server. IMAP is preferred today.
R
Reseller hosting
A hosting plan that lets you create individual hosting accounts under your own brand and re-sell them to your clients. See /hosting/reseller.
S
SAN
Subject Alternative Name — a field in an SSL certificate listing all hostnames it covers (e.g. example.co.ke, www.example.co.ke, mail.example.co.ke).
SFTP
SSH File Transfer Protocol — encrypted file upload, replacement for FTP. All Hostiko hosting supports SFTP via DirectAdmin credentials.
Shared hosting
A hosting plan where many websites share resources on one server. The cheapest and most popular hosting type. See /hosting/shared.
Sitemap
An XML file listing all the pages on your site, helping search engines crawl efficiently. Hostiko's dynamic sitemap is at /sitemap.xml.
SOA record
Start of Authority — a DNS record holding administrative metadata for a zone (serial number, refresh interval).
Softaculous
A one-click app installer in DirectAdmin (and cPanel) — installs WordPress, Joomla and 400+ apps with a single click.
SPF
Sender Policy Framework — a TXT DNS record listing which servers are authorised to send mail for your domain. Required for email deliverability.
SSD
Solid State Drive — non-mechanical storage, faster than traditional spinning disks. The minimum standard for modern hosting.
SSH
Secure Shell — encrypted remote terminal access to a server. Available on Hostiko VPS and dedicated plans.
SSL
Secure Sockets Layer — the encryption protocol behind HTTPS. Technically replaced by TLS but everyone still says SSL.
STK Push
Sim Toolkit Push — Safaricom's mechanism for prompting M-Pesa users to authorise a payment on their phone. Powers our checkout.
Subdomain
A prefix on your main domain (e.g. mail.example.co.ke is a subdomain of example.co.ke). Created in DirectAdmin or via a CNAME.
T
TLD
Top-Level Domain — the last part of a domain name (.co.ke, .com, .org). Managed by registries like KENIC (for .ke).
TLS
Transport Layer Security — the modern successor to SSL. Powers HTTPS. Current version is TLS 1.3.
TTFB
Time-to-First-Byte — how long the server takes to start sending a response. Best modern hosts target under 200ms.
TXT record
A DNS record holding arbitrary text. Used for SPF, DKIM, DMARC and domain ownership verification.
U
Uptime
The percentage of time a service is online. 99.9% uptime = 8.7 hours of allowed downtime per year. 99.99% = 52 minutes.
V
VPS
Virtual Private Server — a slice of a physical server with guaranteed CPU/RAM. Step up from shared hosting. See /hosting/vps.
W
webmail
A web-based interface for reading email — works in any browser. Hostiko provides Roundcube webmail at yourdomain.co.ke/webmail.
WHOIS
The public database of domain registration data (owner, registrar, expiry). Look up any domain with our /tools/whois tool.
WordPress
The world's most popular content management system. Powers ~43% of all websites. Runs perfectly on every Hostiko plan.
X
XML sitemap
See "Sitemap" above.
Still confused? Just ask.
If a hosting term has you stuck, WhatsApp our Nairobi team. We don't gatekeep — we explain in plain English.