Auto-Scaling

Container

A lightweight, portable software package that bundles application code with all its dependencies for consistent execution.

Docker

A platform for developing, shipping, and running applications in isolated containers with consistent environments.

Kubernetes

An open-source container orchestration platform for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerised applications.

Load Balancer

A device or software that distributes network traffic across multiple servers to ensure no single server is overwhelmed.

Virtual Machine

A software emulation of a physical computer that runs an operating system and applications independently.

Hypervisor

Software that creates and manages virtual machines, allowing multiple operating systems to share a single hardware host.

Object Storage

A data storage architecture managing data as objects rather than file hierarchies or block addresses.

Block Storage

A data storage technology that manages data as individual blocks, each acting as an independent hard drive.

Availability Zone

An isolated location within a cloud region with independent power, cooling, and networking for high availability.

Region

A geographic area containing one or more data centres where cloud services are hosted.

Container Orchestration

The automated management of containerised application deployment, scaling, networking, and availability across clusters of machines, with Kubernetes as the dominant platform.

Spare cloud computing capacity offered at steep discounts compared to on-demand pricing, available when the provider has excess resources but subject to interruption.

A cloud service where the provider handles infrastructure management, maintenance, updates, and monitoring.

A software architecture where a single instance serves multiple customers, with each tenant's data isolated and invisible to others.

A strategy using services from multiple cloud providers to avoid vendor lock-in and optimise capabilities.

The automated arrangement, coordination, and management of complex cloud computing systems and services.

Managing and provisioning computing infrastructure through machine-readable configuration files rather than manual processes.

An architectural style structuring an application as a collection of loosely coupled, independently deployable services.

Application Programming Interface — a set of protocols and tools for building and integrating software applications.