Guides
Explainer
Guides
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What is a port number?
If an IP address finds the server, the port finds the right program on it. The common ports, and how to see which ones…
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What is caching? Browser, page and object caches
Caching keeps a ready-made copy of something so it does not have to be built again. The layers that make websites fast, and when…
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How HTTPS works
What the padlock actually means, what a certificate proves, and what happens in the first fraction of a second of every secure connection.
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What is a CDN?
A content delivery network keeps copies of your site’s files in data centers around the world, so visitors download them from somewhere close.
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What is an IP address? IPv4 and IPv6 explained
The number every device on the internet uses to find every other device, the difference between IPv4 and IPv6, and public versus private addresses.
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What is a reverse proxy?
A server that stands in front of your other servers, takes every request and decides who answers. What it does, when you need one,…
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What is a nameserver?
Nameservers hold your domain’s DNS records. Changing them moves control of every record to a new provider at once.
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What is DNS propagation, and how long does it take?
Why a DNS change reaches some people in minutes and others in hours, how to check its progress, and how to make the next…
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How DNS works
DNS turns a name like example.com into the IP address of a server. Here is every step of a lookup, and why caching makes…
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What is cPanel (and Plesk)?
Control panels put a web interface on top of a hosting server, so you can manage sites, email, databases and files without the command…