Secure Shell, better known as SSH, is a cryptographic network protocol used to execute commands on a remote server or to exchange information between a hosting server and a client. Due to the fact that the information exchanged by the two sides is protected, a third party can't intercept it, which makes SSH an ideal means of handling a website hosting account. The commands that may be executed depend on the type of hosting service. On a shared web server, for instance, the alternatives are limited because you shall not have root access to the hosting server, so you could only create/move/delete files, create and unpack archives, export and import databases, and so on. They are all actions that are carried out within the shared hosting account and don't require a higher level of access. With a virtual or a dedicated server, you'll have the option to set up server-side software or to restart the server or only a certain service (web server, database server, etc.). SSH commands are submitted with a command line, but if you don't employ a UNIX-like OS, there are a variety of apps for other OSs, that you can use to connect to the remote hosting server as well.