| Term
|
Description
|
| Apache HTTP Server
|
A Web server software. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_HTTP_Server.
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| CALM (cloud account lifecycle management)
|
Our process for managing the allocation of cloud resources.
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| Ceph
|
The distributed data storage platform for our clouds; includes volume storage.
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| CephFS (Ceph File System)
|
A filesystem with Ceph storage, which allows data to be mounted simultaneously on multiple OpenStack instances. Currently only available with Arbutus. See https://docs.ceph.com/en/latest/cephfs/.
|
| cloud
|
When referring to our cloud services, short form of IaaS cloud.
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| compute cloud
|
Type of resource allocated to support OpenStack instances intended to run for a limited time, usually with a very high sustained usage of CPU and memory. Flavours for these resources have labels beginning with c*. Currently only available on Arbutus, Béluga and Cedar. Compare with persistent cloud.
|
| CVMFS (CernVM File System)
|
A read-only content distribution system often used to manage software.
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| ephemeral local disk
|
Virtual disk which is created and destroyed along with an OpenStack instance. An ephemeral disk is created when an instance is launched without the specification of a volume.
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| flavor
|
OpenStack term for a predefined specification of a new instance. A flavor can define sizes for RAM, disk, number of cores, and so on.
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| floating IP
|
Internet Protocol address that can be associated with an OpenStack instance to allow external access.
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| Horizon
|
OpenStack cloud dashboard that is used for viewing and managing cloud resources through a Web browser. See https://docs.openstack.org/horizon/latest/.
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| host
|
Physical server supporting virtual machines.
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| image
|
Image of a virtual disk used to create a new boot volume or ephemeral disk when creating an OpenStack instance.
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| instance
|
OpenStack virtual machines are called instances, mostly because they are instances of an image that is created upon request and that is configured when the instance is launched.
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| IPV6 (Internet Protocol version 6)
|
A communications protocol successor to IPv4. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6.
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| object storage
|
Object storage (or object-based storage) is a storage type that manages data as objects, as opposed to other storage architectures like filesystems which manage data as a file hierarchy, and storage types where data is managed as blocks. Each object typically includes the data itself, a variable amount of metadata, and a globally unique identifier. Offered as S3 and Swift protocols. Allocated in TB. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_storage. Currently only available with Arbutus.
|
| OpenStack
|
The software suite used on our clouds to control hardware resources such as computers, storage and networking.
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| persistent cloud
|
Allocation type for persistent virtual machines that are expected to run indefinitely and have low or bursty CPU requirements. Flavours for these resources have labels beginning with p*. Currently only available on Arbutus, Béluga and Cedar. Compare with compute cloud.
|
| project
|
In our infrastructure, a project represents an allocation of cloud resources to a group or user. Sometimes referred to as tenant.
|
| RAC (Resource Allocation Competition)
|
Our program via which PIs can submit a request for storage and computer resources beyond what can be obtained via the Rapid Access Service (RAS). The requests are evaluated by a committee of peers.
|
| RAS (Rapid Access Service)
|
Service by which Principal Investigators can request a modest amount of storage and cloud resources without having to apply to the RAC.
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| S3 (Simple Storage Service)
|
A type of object storage. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_S3.
|
| security group
|
A set of security rules that control network traffic and can be applied as a whole to one or more instances.
|
| service portal
|
Our infrastructure hosts many Web research portals which serve datasets or tools to a broad research community. These portals generally do not require large computing or storage resources, but may require support efforts from our technical team. Groups applying for a service portal often use our clouds, generally require a public IP address, and may have more stringent up-time requirements than most research projects.
|
| shared filesystem
|
Persistent storage space offered as a Unix-compliant filesystem that can be mounted across multiple hosts in a project. This is useful for sharing data across multiple hosts. Our service runs on CephFS and requires either a Fuse driver (Windows/Linux) or the CephFS kernel driver (Linux) for access. Allocated in TB.
|
| snapshot
|
Copy of an OpenStack volume that can be used as a backup or to launch another instance.
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| SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
|
A protocol to allow encrypted communications over networks. SSL is obsolete and should be replaced by TLS (Transport Layer Security) wherever possible.
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| SWIFT
|
A type of object storage. See https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/Swift.
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| tenant
|
See project.
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| TSL (Transport Layer Security)
|
See SSL.
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| vCPU (virtual central processing unit)
|
A vCPU represents a portion or share of the underlying, physical CPU that is assigned to a particular virtual machine.
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| vGPU (virtual graphics processing unit)
|
A virtual machine can have one or more vGPUs assigned to it. Each of them is seen as a GPU by the operating system. Additional configuration may be required for use.
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| virtual machine
|
Virtual server in the cloud infrastructure. In OpenStack, active virtual machines are called instances.
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| volume
|
Storage resource that can be attached to or detached from an OpenStack instance, like a virtual disk.
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| volume storage
|
Type of persistent cloud storage providing virtual disk functionality to OpenStack instances running in the cloud. Implemented with Ceph software. Allocated in GB.
|