Secure Shell, commonly known as SSH, is a cryptographic network protocol employed to execute commands on a remote web server or to exchange data between a hosting server and a client. Since the information exchanged by the two sides is encrypted, a 3rd party simply cannot intercept it, which makes SSH a preferred means of controlling an Internet hosting account. The commands which could be executed depend on the type of hosting service. On a shared web server, for instance, the options are limited since you shall not have root access to the server, so you could just create/move/delete files, create and unpack archives, export and import databases, etc. They're all actions that are performed inside the shared hosting account and don't require a higher level of access. By using a virtual or a dedicated server, you shall have the ability to install server-side software or to restart the server or only a specific service (web server, database server, etc.). SSH commands are submitted via a command line, and if you do not use a UNIX-like Operating System, there are a variety of applications for other OSs, that you can use to connect to the remote web server as well.