SSH Telnet

Secure Shell, commonly known as SSH, is a cryptographic network protocol employed to execute commands on a remote web server or to exchange info between a hosting server and a client. Given that the info exchanged by the two sides is protected, a 3rd party won't be able to intercept it, which makes SSH a preferred means of controlling a website hosting account. The commands that could be executed depend on the type of hosting service. On a shared hosting server, in particular, the options are limited since you simply won't have root access to the website hosting server, so you can just create/move/delete files, create and unpack archives, import and export databases, etc. These are all actions that are performed within the shared hosting account and don't require a higher level of access. Using a virtual or a dedicated server, you will be able to set up server-side software or to restart the web server or just a particular service (web server, database server, etc.). SSH commands are submitted with a command line, and if you don't employ a UNIX-like OS, there are plenty of applications for other OSs, you can use to connect to the remote web server as well.