Virtual Machine

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.

Auto-Scaling

Automatically adjusting compute resources based on current demand to maintain performance and optimise costs.

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.

A software architecture where all components are tightly integrated into a single deployable unit.

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

An authentication scheme allowing users to log in once and gain access to multiple related systems.

A serverless cloud computing model where individual functions are executed in response to events.

The delivery of computing services — servers, storage, databases, networking, software — over the internet on demand.

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

An infrastructure layer handling service-to-service communication in microservices, managing traffic, security, and observability.

Cloud computing resources used exclusively by a single organisation, either on-premises or hosted by a third party.