SSH, or Secure Shell, is a network protocol used to connect to a server and perform different tasks through 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 can be used for a variety of things depending on the type of 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 hosting server allows for it. When you have a virtual or a dedicated server, SSH could be used for pretty much anything - you may install software or restart certain services including the web server or the database server which run on the machine. SSH is employed primarily with UNIX-like Platforms, but there are clients which enable you to use the protocol if your PC is using a different Operating System too. The connection is made on TCP port 22 by default and the remote hosting server always listens for incoming connections on that port although a lot of providers change it for security reasons.