Accounts: An Account typically represents either a customer of the service provider or a department within a large organization. Multiple Users can be accommodated within a single Account.
Administrators: Administrators hold special privileges within the system, including the ability to create or delete other administrators and alter User passwords.
Cloud: A cloud refers to a network of remote servers hosted on the internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.
Compute: Compute refers to the process of using computer resources, particularly processing power, to execute tasks and calculations. In cloud computing, compute resources are typically provided through virtual machines or containers.
Data center: A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. It typically includes redundant or backup power supplies, redundant data communications connections, environmental controls (e.g., air conditioning, fire suppression), and security devices.
Domains: Accounts are organized into domains, each containing multiple Accounts that share a logical relationship. Domains are overseen by delegated administrators who possess authority over the domain and its subdomains. For example, a service provider managing several resellers might create a domain for each reseller.
Domain Administrators: Domain administrators are empowered to perform administrative tasks for Users within their domain. However, they lack visibility into physical servers or other domains.
Firewall: A firewall is a network security device or software application that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules. It acts as a barrier between a trusted internal network and an untrusted external network, such as the internet, to prevent unauthorized access and protect against cyber threats.
Hypervisor: A hypervisor, also known as a virtual machine monitor (VMM), is software or firmware that enables the creation and management of virtual machines (VMs) on a physical host machine. It allows multiple operating systems to share a single hardware host and manages the allocation of hardware resources to each VM.
IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing service model that provides virtualized computing resources over the internet. It offers scalable and on-demand access to infrastructure components such as virtual machines, storage, and networking resources, allowing users to provision and manage their IT infrastructure without the need for physical hardware.
IaaS Cloud: The IaaS Cloud refers to a cloud computing environment that delivers Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to users. It encompasses a variety of virtualized computing resources, including servers, storage, and networking, which are provided to users on a pay-as-you-go basis over the internet.
Instance: An instance refers to a single occurrence or instantiation of a virtual machine (VM) within a cloud computing environment. It represents a virtualized computing environment with allocated resources such as CPU, memory, and storage, which can be provisioned and managed independently of physical hardware.
Load balancer: A load balancer is a network device or software component that distributes incoming network traffic across multiple servers or computing resources to optimize resource utilization, maximize throughput, minimize response time, and avoid overloading any single resource. It helps ensure high availability and reliability of applications by evenly distributing workload across multiple servers.
Network: A network refers to the interconnection of computers and other devices, allowing them to communicate and share resources such as files, printers, and internet access. In the context of cloud computing, a network encompasses the infrastructure and protocols used to establish connections between cloud resources, including virtual machines, storage, and services.
PaaS: Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a cloud computing service model that provides a platform allowing customers to develop, run, and manage applications without the complexity of building and maintaining the underlying infrastructure. It offers tools and services for application development, deployment, and management, typically including operating systems, middleware, databases, and development tools.
Read Only Administrator: This restricted admin role permits Account holders to perform list, get, or find operations but prohibits changes to the infrastructure, configuration, or User resources.
Read Only User: A restricted User role that permits list, get, or find operations only. It suits Users primarily interested in resource monitoring and usage.
Resource Ownership: Resources are associated with the Account rather than individual Users within that Account. Ownership encompasses billing, resource limits, and related aspects. Administrators can transfer resource ownership between Accounts as needed.
Roles: Roles define a set of permissible actions within the cloud environment. Each Account is associated with a role that dictates access permissions, determining whether an API request is authorized or not. Common roles include root admin, resource admin, domain admin, and User. Recent additions include Read-Only Admin, Read-Only User, Support Admin, and Support User, which are derived from the primary roles.
Root Administrators: Root administrators enjoy complete system access, including management of Templates, service offerings, customer care administrators, and domains.
SaaS: Software as a Service (SaaS) is a cloud computing service model that delivers software applications over the internet on a subscription basis. It enables users to access and use software applications hosted by a third-party provider, eliminating the need for installation, maintenance, and management of software on local devices.
Snapshot: A snapshot is a point-in-time copy or image of a virtual machine (VM) or storage volume, capturing the exact state of the system at the moment the snapshot was taken. It allows users to create a backup or restore point of their data or virtual machine configuration, enabling them to revert to a previous state if needed. Snapshots are commonly used for data protection, disaster recovery, and system maintenance purposes in cloud computing environments.
Storage: Storage refers to the retention of data in a digital format for future use, typically on physical or virtual storage devices such as hard drives, solid-state drives (SSDs), or cloud-based storage solutions. In cloud computing, storage services provide scalable and durable data storage options that users can access and manage over the internet.
Support Admin: Support Admins undertake auxiliary support and maintenance tasks without impacting the infrastructure. They lack authority over physical networks but can create offerings and manage resources.
Support User: This restricted User role enables Users to view resources and perform auxiliary support operations, such as starting or stopping Instances, without the ability to create or destroy resources.
Users: Users function as aliases within an Account, allowing multiple individuals to operate within the same Account. Users within the same Account share resources but are isolated from Users in other Accounts. While most installations feature one User per Account, Users cannot belong to multiple Accounts.
VM: VM stands for Virtual Machine, which is a software-based emulation of a physical computer that runs an operating system and applications. In cloud computing, VMs are created, managed, and run on virtualized hardware infrastructure provided by the cloud service provider. VMs allow users to deploy and run multiple independent instances of operating systems and applications on a single physical server, providing flexibility, scalability, and resource efficiency.
Volume: In the context of cloud computing and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), a volume refers to a virtual storage resource used for persistently storing data within a cloud environment. Volumes are typically block-level storage entities that can be attached to virtual machines (VMs) or instances, providing scalable and flexible storage solutions for various applications. These volumes offer attributes such as durability, allowing data to remain intact even after the termination of associated instances, and elasticity, enabling users to adjust storage capacity based on their requirements. Additionally, volumes often support features like snapshots, which allow users to capture point-in-time backups of their data for backup and recovery purposes. Overall, volumes are integral components of cloud infrastructure, enhancing storage capabilities and facilitating data management within the cloud environment.