General | ||||||||||
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VM | A software-defined computing environment that functions as an isolated system with its own CPU, memory, network interface, and storage, all created from a pool of physical hardware resources. These VMs run on a physical "host" machine, managed by software called a hypervisor. The hypervisor isolates the necessary computing resources and enables the creation and management of multiple VMs, where each one runs its own operating system independently from others. The end-user experience within a VM closely emulates that of running an operating system or application on a physical machine. | |||||||||
Starlight Manager | The control panel that allows users to purchase, manage, and terminate virtual machines as well as handle all related components. | |||||||||
Virtualization | A technology that allows the creation of virtual versions of physical hardware, such as servers, storage, networks, and desktops. By using software to simulate these components, virtualization enables a single physical machine to be divided into multiple virtual machines (VMs). Each VM can run its own operating system and applications, acting independently, but sharing the resources of the underlying hardware at the same time. There are several types of virtualization, including:
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KVM | An open-source virtualization technology built into the Linux kernel, enabling the kernel to function as a hypervisor. This allows a single physical Linux machine to run multiple, isolated virtual machines (VMs) simultaneously. Each VM operates as an independent environment with its own virtualized hardware, including CPU, memory, storage, and network interfaces. | |||||||||
VPC | A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is a secure, isolated private cloud environment hosted within a public cloud. It provides scalability and convenience of public cloud computing while maintaining the data isolation and security. While the public cloud is accessible to numerous customers, the VPC carves out a portion of these resources exclusively for one customer’s use. | |||||||||
VPC network | A private, virtually isolated network that enables users to logically separate their resources, such as virtual servers. It is isolated from other virtual networks within a cloud, ensuring that the resources inside the VPC are secure and inaccessible to other cloud users and their resources. | |||||||||
Gateway | A critical network node or device that serves as a connection point between two different networks, particularly those that use different transmission protocols. Acting as the entry and exit point for a network, a gateway ensures that all data traffic moving between networks is appropriately managed and routed. | |||||||||
Subnet mask | A 32-bit number used in networking to divide an IP address into network and host portions. It helps determine which portion of the IP address identifies the network and which part identifies the specific device within that network. For example, a common subnet mask, 255.255.255.0, means the first three sections (or octets) identify the network, and the last section identifies the device. | |||||||||
Hypervisor | A software or hardware layer that enables the creation and management of multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical host. Each virtual machine operates independently, with its own operating system and applications, as if it were running on its own dedicated hardware. The hypervisor allocates the underlying physical resources - such as CPU, memory, and storage - to each VM as needed. | |||||||||
Cloud Hosting | A web hosting method that uses a network of interconnected virtual and physical servers to store and manage website data. Unlike traditional hosting, which relies on a single physical server, cloud hosting spreads data across multiple servers. This approach improves reliability, scalability, and flexibility, ensuring that websites remain fast and accessible even during high traffic. With cloud hosting, resources are provided on-demand, allowing businesses to easily scale their applications and reduce IT costs through a pay-as-you-go model. | |||||||||
Configuration (VM plan) | A predefined package or configuration that specifies the resources allocated to a virtual machine, such as the number of CPU cores, amount of RAM, storage capacity, and network bandwidth. VM plans offer different levels of performance and capacity to meet various user needs, with corresponding pricing tiers. | |||||||||
CPU | A CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the "brain" of a computer, responsible for interpreting and executing instructions from software programs. It performs all the essential tasks like arithmetic calculations, logic operations, and controlling other components of the system. The CPU is a vital part of any computing device, as it processes data, runs the operating system, and controls the execution of applications. | |||||||||
vCPU | A segment of a physical CPU allocated by a hypervisor and assigned to a virtual machine (VM). This is achieved by utilizing a physical CPU on the server to create virtual CPUs, allowing multiple VMs to be hosted on the same hardware.The number of vCPUs assigned to a VM dictates the processing power available to that virtual machine. | |||||||||
RAM | RAM, or Random Access Memory, serves as its short-term memory. It temporarily stores data that the computer's processor needs to access quickly, enabling smooth operation of applications and multitasking. Unlike long-term storage devices like hard drives or SSDs, RAM allows data to be read and written in any order, which makes it much faster for the processor to retrieve the necessary information. The more RAM your machine has, the better it can handle multiple tasks simultaneously, such as editing documents and running applications. | |||||||||
SSD | A type of data storage device that uses flash memory to store data, rather than spinning disks like traditional hard disk drives (HDDs). SSDs increase data access speeds, provide higher reliability and lower power consumption compared to HDDs. | |||||||||
NVMe | A storage protocol designed specifically for high-speed communication between SSDs and a computer's processor. By leveraging the PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) bus, NVMe allows for faster data transfer and lower latency compared to traditional protocols like SATA or SAS. This way multiple input/output (I/O) operations can be processed in parallelm, reducing system overhead and significantly improving performance. NVMe is particularly useful for enterprise workloads and modern applications that require quick and efficient data access. | |||||||||
VM Image | A file that contains a complete snapshot of a configured system, including the operating system, applications, libraries, data, and all necessary configurations. It is also a template for creating virtual machines, so you can replicate the same environment across multiple instances. When you launch a VM from an image, it mirrors the setup and configuration defined in the image, ensuring consistency and reliability in different environments. VM images are used for rapid deployment, scaling, and migration of virtual machines. It allows to simplify managin and distributing virtualized systems across various infrastructures, including cloud environments. | |||||||||
Additional Software | A software bundle that includes the chosen OS and packages that are additionally deployed on the machine (e.g. Wordpress, VPN etc). | |||||||||
VM Account | A group of cloud projects, VMs and their resources assigned to or managed by a particular user within a cloud hosting environment. All VM account are isolated from one another, for instance:
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Cloud project | A container with isolated cloud resources, such as compute instances, storage volumes, and networks. It refers to a specific application or service that is developed and hosted using cloud computing capacities. Each project can have its own set of users, quotas, and policies, that allows to segregate and control access to resources within the cloud. | |||||||||
VM Volume | A virtual storage unit associated with a virtual machine (VM). It provides a VM with persistent storage, which is used to store data such as the operating system, applications, and user files. VM volumes are typically virtualized representations of physical storage, such as hard drives or SSDs, and they can be managed independently of the VM itself. | |||||||||
Datacenter | A physical facility where an organization's IT infrastructure is located, including servers, storage systems, networking equipment, and other computing resources. Data centers are equipped with backup power supplies, data replication systems, temperature control, and various security measures to protect against outages, data loss, and unauthorized access. You can find the datacenter of your VM in the Starlight Manager. Please note that the datacenter and availability zone are merged into one. For example: US Phoenix, PHX-1 | |||||||||
Region | A geographic area where the data centers of a cloud service provider are located. Each region includes multiple data centers, placed strategically to guarantee redundancy, reliability, and low-latency access to services. The region should be selected taking such factors into account as proximity, available services, and regulatory requirements. Starlight services are currently located in Phoenix, US. | |||||||||
Location | It is the end destination where a VM is deployed and it consists of the following characteristics chosen by a user:
For example:
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Console (VNC) | A technology that allows users to remotely control another machine’s desktop, as if directly interacting with the VM's monitor using the keyboard and mouse of their local device. The VNC is widely used for troubleshooting, technical support, or simply managing tasks from a different location, regardless of the VM network configuration. Login and password authentication are required to use Console. | |||||||||
Command Line | A text-based interface for interaction with a VM by typing commands. Through the command line, users can navigate the file system, run programs, manage files and directories, configure system settings, and perform other administrative tasks. With autologin enabled, it is possible to log in without the password authentication. Autologin can be disabled as well, requiring users to manually enter the login credentials when using the command line. | |||||||||
SSH | A network protocol used to securely access and manage remote computers over an unsecured network. This way the transmitted data is encrypted, so users can safely log in to a remote machine to manage infractructure and transfer files. | |||||||||
SSH key | A cryptographic access credential used in the SSH (Secure Shell) protocol for secure communication between two machines over an unsecured network. SSH keys allow users to authenticate securely and establish encrypted connections for remote management, file transfers, and system administration. | |||||||||
API | An API (or Application Programming Interface) is a collection of programming rules and protocols that allow software applications to communicate and exchange data with each other. Developers use APIs to integrate external services, features, or data into the application without building them from scratch. | |||||||||
VM actions | ||||||||||
Power Management | The menu where a VM can be switched on/off and rebooted. | |||||||||
Switch on | To power on a virtual machine (VM). It initiates the boot process of the VM, allowing the operating system to start running and the VM to become operational and enable a user to begin using the virtual machine for their tasks and operations. | |||||||||
Switch off | To power down or turn off a virtual machine (VM). The VM is shut down, gracefully stopping all processes and operations running within it. Once the VM is switched off, it will no longer consume resources such as CPU and memory, and its state will be saved until it is switched back on again. This action can be performed manually on the VM or using the Power Management menu in the Starlight manager. | |||||||||
Reboot VM | Graceful reboot. During the reboot process a VM shuts down and immediately starts up again. Rebooting a VM can be useful for applying updates, resolving system issues, or refreshing the operating system without needing to completely power off and then manually switch the VM back on. During the reboot process, all running processes and applications are terminated and restarted, but the VM remains powered on throughout the process. | |||||||||
Reset VM | Forceful reboot. The VM's power is abruptly cut off and then immediately turned back on, which can be useful if the VM is unresponsive or frozen. However, since it does not allow the operating system or running applications to close properly, using "Reset" may result in data loss or corruption of files. It's typically recommended to use this option only when other methods of rebooting or shutting down the VM are not effective. | |||||||||
Update root password | To change or reset the root password of the virtual machine (VM). Changing the root password using this option will take immediate effect, allowing you to log in to the VM with the new credentials. However, make sure to keep the new password secure and accessible only to authorized personnel, as root access grants full control over the system. | |||||||||
Reinstall Virtual Machine | To completely wipe the existing operating system and data on your virtual machine and install a new operating system. This is useful if you need to reset the VM to its original state, switch to a different operating system, or resolve significant issues that cannot be fixed by other means. When you choose to reinstall a virtual machine, all data on the VM will be erased, so it is important to back up any important files before proceeding. | |||||||||
Networking | The menu where the IP addresses and network-related information for your virtual machine are listed. | |||||||||
Resize VM | To alter the resources allocated to a virtual machine (VM), typically involving changes to CPU, memory, storage, or the overall size of a disk volume. It allows users to adjust the performance and capacity of a VM to match the requirements of the hosted application. | |||||||||
Deploy | To create and set up a new virtual machine (VM) or application environment on a cloud infrastructure. | |||||||||
Terminate Virtual Machine | To shut down permanently and delete a virtual machine (VM). When a VM is terminated, all of its associated resources, including the operating system, applications, data, and configuration settings, are removed from the hosting environment. This action is irreversible and is often used when a VM is no longer needed, allowing the resources it was using to be freed up for other purposes. | |||||||||
Volume actions | ||||||||||
Deploy | To create a new virtual storage volume. This process implies allocating necessary resources, creating configuration, and making the volume available for virtual machines. Once a volume is deployed, it can be attached to virtual machines. | |||||||||
Attach | To connect a volume to a virtual machine. It allows to establish the link between the storage resource and the virtual machine and enable further volume mounting. | |||||||||
Detach | To remove a volume from a virtual machine. When you detach a storage resource, it is no longer connected to or accessible by the VM, but the storage itself still exists within the cloud infrastructure and can potentially be reattached to the same VM or a different one later. | |||||||||
Mount | To make a storage device or volume accessible and usable by a virtual machine. | |||||||||
Unmount | To detach a volume, from a virtual machine so that a VM no longer has access to that storage. | |||||||||
Resize | To alter the storage capacity of a volume, if the storage requirements have been changed. While a volume is resized, the existing data on it is retained. | |||||||||
Migrate | To move a volume from one physical host to another within a virtualized environment. It may be necessary for various reasons, such as load balancing (when the current node cannot handle an upgrade), attaching a volume to another VM (hosted on a different node), or transferring between data centers. | |||||||||
Terminate | To permanently delete a virtual storage volume. As a result, all data on the volume is removed and the resources are released and available for further use. | |||||||||