SSH, or Secure Shell, is a network protocol employed to connect to a web server and carry out different tasks via a command line. The protocol is popular with many expert users, as the information transmitted over it is encrypted, so it may not be intercepted on the way by a 3rd party. SSH access can be used for a lot of things with regards to the type of Internet hosting account. With a shared hosting account, for instance, SSH is one of several ways to import/export a database or to upload a file if the web server allows it. If you have a virtual or a dedicated server, SSH may be used for virtually everything - you may install software or restart specific services like the web server or the database server that run on the machine. SSH is used mainly with UNIX-like Systems, but there are clients that allow you to employ the protocol if your computer is using a different OS as well. The connection is established on TCP port 22 by default and the remote hosting server always listens for incoming connections on that port although many providers change it for security reasons.
