Infrastructure Glossary

Here you can find important tech terms and definitions, explained in a simple and clear way.

WAF (Web Application Firewall)

A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is a highly specialized security protocol that monitors, filters, and blocks malicious HTTP traffic traveling to and from a web application. Unlike standard network firewalls that protect internal corporate servers, a WAF is specifically designed to protect public-facing websites from sophisticated application-level attacks, such as SQL injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), and massive DDoS attacks.

IP Address (Internet Protocol Address)

An IP (Internet Protocol) Address is a unique string of numbers (or alphanumeric characters in IPv6) separated by periods that identifies a specific device or server on the internet or a local network. Just like a physical street address allows the postal service to deliver a package to your house, an IP address allows computers to send and receive data to the correct destination.

Hosting (Web Hosting)

Web Hosting is a service that provides the physical server infrastructure and technologies needed for a website to be viewed on the internet.

Zone Record (DNS Zone File)

A Zone Record (or DNS Zone File) is a simple text file stored on a DNS name server that contains the actual mappings between domain names and IP addresses, as well as other critical routing instructions for a domain. It is essentially the master ledger that dictates exactly where web traffic, email traffic, and subdomains should be sent when someone interacts with your company's domain.

Webflow Enterprise

Webflow Enterprise is a premium hosting and platform offering from Webflow designed for large organizations requiring high-performance, security, compliance, and dedicated support. Enterprise includes features like dedicated IP, SSO (Single Sign-On), advanced security, and SLAs (Service Level Agreements).

SSL Certificate

An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certificate is a digital authentication credential that binds a cryptographic key to a company's details. When installed on a web server, it activates the padlock icon and the HTTPS protocol in the browser's URL bar. This ensures that the data transferred between the user's browser and the website's server is heavily encrypted and secure from interception.

Progressive Web App (PWA)

A Progressive Web App (PWA) is a website that uses modern web technologies to deliver an app-like user experience, combining the best features of web apps and native mobile apps. PWAs work offline, load instantly, and can be installed on home screens without requiring app store downloads.

Plugin

A Plugin is a modular piece of software added to an existing computer program or website platform (most notoriously WordPress) to introduce a specific new feature or functionality without the user needing to write custom code. For example, adding an SEO tool, a contact form, or a caching system to a legacy CMS usually requires installing a third-party plugin.

DNS (Domain Name System)

The Domain Name System (DNS) is often described as the "phonebook of the internet." Humans access information online through readable domain names like flowtrix.co. Web browsers, however, interact through Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (like 192.0.2.1). DNS translates the human-readable domain names into machine-readable IP addresses so browsers can load the correct internet resources.

Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a geographically distributed group of servers that work together to provide fast delivery of internet content. Instead of housing your website's heavy files (like images, videos, and CSS) on a single server in one location, a CDN copies these files and stores them on "edge servers" all around the world.

Cache

A cache (pronounced "cash") is a high-speed data storage layer that stores a subset of data, so that future requests for that data can be served faster than accessing the original source.

Bandwidth

In web hosting and network architecture, Bandwidth refers to the maximum volume of data that can be transmitted over an internet connection in a given amount of time (usually measured in Megabits or Gigabits per second). For a website, it represents the total amount of data transferred from the website's server to the users' browsers when they load pages, view images, or download files over a specific billing period (usually a month).