As there have been question in the past on the terms and definitions used by Commerce Server, a while back we published a list in the Commerce Server 2002 time frame outlining the meanings to the terms and definitions. I thought it might be a good idea to re-visit this topic and update them to reflect the current product usage.

• Commerce Server Site: A Commerce Server site is a collection of site resources and ASP or ASP.NET-based applications that use these resources through the Commerce Server object model. With a Commerce Server site, you can administer the applications in the site as a group.
• Note: A Commerce Server site is not the same thing as the concept of a Web site in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS).
• Commerce Server Resource: A Commerce Server resource adds functionality to the applications in a Commerce Server site. You can use the Commerce Server Manager to configure properties in a Commerce Server resource. Resources are either site resources or global resources. Global resources can be shared across Commerce Server sites. Site resources cannot be shared across Commerce Server sites. For example, the Product Catalog resource is a site resource and the Data Warehouse resource is a global resource.
• Commerce Server Application: A Commerce Server application is a logical representation of an application in IIS. The Commerce Server application appears in both the Commerce Server Manager and in IIS Manager Console trees. In the IIS console tree, a Commerce Server application is either at the root directory level of the Web site or at a sub-directory or virtual directory level of the web site.
• A Commerce Server application may be one of the following:
• A web service application such as the Catalog Web Service
• A web site application
• Commerce Server deployment: A Commerce Server deployment is made up of one or more physical installations of Commerce Server that are directed to or share a single Commerce Server administrative database (MSCS_Admin Database). All Commerce Server sites that share a common MSCS_Admin database make up a single Commerce Server deployment.
• Web server: In Commerce Server, a Web server is a computer that has IIS installed. The Web server contains the virtual directories, the files, and the subfolders for a Commerce site. A Commerce deployment can have multiple Web servers that together form a Web farm.
• IIS-based Web site: An Internet Information Services-based Web site runs on a specific TCP port number. For example, by default, the "Default Web Site" or "Administration" web site.