Sharepoint Server Glossary

1. Application page is an a template page from _layouts virtual directory with following characteristics:

• it is available within every site
  
• only one copy of this page on the server
  
• It is not accessible through Designer when editing a site
  
• It is accessible through IIS
  

2. Safe page is a template page that comes from site definitions (For example: default.aspx in “Team Site” template).

• it exists only on sites where it’s been specified by a template or created by a user
• many copies can exist on the server
  
• It is accessible through Designer when editing a site
  
• It is not accessible through IIS
  

SharePoint Web Application is an IIS website that has a SharePoint Web Application Service running

Basic Web Application – such as default web site or external site (extranet.company.com), stores site collections where end-users and site administrators work

Central Administration – used by system administrators to manage the server farm

Shared Services –  manages features that are common to all web applications such as search, user profiles, business data catalog

Personal Sites – contains personal user site collection (one per user)