SSH, or Secure Shell, is a network protocol used to connect to a web server and perform various tasks via a command line. The protocol is preferred by many knowledgeable users, for the reason that the information transmitted over it is encrypted, so it may not be intercepted on the way by a third party. SSH access could be employed for lots of things based on the type of website 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 server allows it. When you have a virtual or a dedicated server, SSH may be used for pretty much anything - you can install software or restart specific services including the web server or the database server that run on the machine. SSH is employed largely with UNIX-like Platforms, but there are clients which allow you to use the protocol if your PC is using a different OS as well. The connection is made on TCP port 22 by default and the remote hosting server always listens for incoming connections on that port though a number of providers change it for security reasons.