Apache Foundation (ASF)
conceptA nonprofit organization providing governance, legal protection, and infrastructure for open-source software projects.
Application Programming Interface (API)
conceptA set of rules and protocols that allows software applications to communicate with each other.
AsyncAPI
conceptA specification for defining and documenting event-driven and asynchronous APIs in a standardized way.
Authentication (AuthN)
conceptThe process of verifying that a user or system is who they claim to be, typically through credentials like passwords or tokens.
Authorization (AuthZ)
conceptThe process of determining what actions or resources an authenticated user or system is permitted to access.
Bare Metal
conceptA physical server dedicated to a single tenant with no virtualization layer, offering maximum performance and control.
Basic Auth
conceptHTTP Basic Authentication sends a Base64-encoded username and password with each request. Simple but insecure without TLS.
Bearer Token
conceptAn access token sent in HTTP headers that grants the bearer access to protected resources without additional proof.
Cache
conceptA temporary high-speed data storage layer that reduces latency by serving frequently accessed data.
Container
conceptA lightweight, standalone package that includes everything needed to run a piece of software: code, runtime, and libraries.
Container Network Interface (CNI)
conceptA specification and plugin framework that defines how container runtimes configure networking for containers.
Container Registry
conceptA service for storing, managing, and distributing container images, acting as the library catalog for your packaged applications.
Container Runtime Interface (CRI)
conceptA Kubernetes plugin interface that defines how the kubelet communicates with container runtimes to manage pod and container lifecycle.
Container Storage Interface (CSI)
conceptA standard interface that enables container orchestrators to manage and provision storage from any compatible backend.
Database
conceptA system designed to store, organize, and retrieve structured or unstructured data efficiently.
eBPF (eBPF)
conceptA Linux kernel technology that lets you run sandboxed programs in the kernel without changing kernel code or loading modules.
Egress
conceptOutbound network traffic leaving a cluster, network, or security boundary toward external destinations.
Egress Gateway
conceptA dedicated, controlled exit point that routes and monitors all outbound traffic from a cluster or service mesh.
Ephemeral
conceptDescribes short-lived, disposable resources designed to be created and destroyed on demand without lasting side effects.
Firewall
conceptA network security device or software that monitors and filters incoming and outgoing traffic based on defined rules.
Gateway
conceptA network entry point that routes, filters, and manages traffic between clients and backend services.
GraphQL
conceptA query language for APIs that lets clients request exactly the data they need in a single request.
gRPC (gRPC)
conceptA high-performance, open-source RPC framework that uses HTTP/2 and Protocol Buffers for efficient communication.
Helm Chart
conceptA packaged collection of Kubernetes resource templates and configuration that Helm uses to deploy applications.
HTTP (HTTP)
conceptThe foundational application-layer protocol for transmitting hypermedia documents and powering communication on the World Wide Web.
Idempotency
conceptA property where performing an operation multiple times produces the same result as performing it once.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
conceptThe practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure through machine-readable definition files rather than manual processes.
Ingress
conceptInbound network traffic entering a cluster or network, or the Kubernetes resource that manages external access to services.
JSON (JSON)
conceptA lightweight, human-readable data interchange format based on JavaScript object syntax, used everywhere from APIs to config files.
JSON Web Token (JWT)
conceptA compact, URL-safe token format for securely transmitting claims between parties, commonly used for authentication.
JSON-RPC
conceptA lightweight, stateless RPC protocol that uses JSON for encoding requests and responses.
Large Language Model (LLM)
conceptA neural network trained on massive text datasets that can generate, analyze, and reason about human language.
Logs
conceptRecorded events and messages from applications and systems, providing a trail of what happened and when.
Message Broker
conceptMiddleware that routes, transforms, and delivers messages between distributed services.
Messaging
conceptA pattern for asynchronous communication between services using messages passed through intermediaries.
Metrics
conceptNumerical measurements collected over time that quantify the behavior and performance of systems.
NoSQL Databases
conceptNon-relational databases designed for flexible schemas, horizontal scaling, and specific data models.
OAuth 2.0 (OAuth2)
conceptAn authorization framework that lets third-party apps access resources on behalf of a user without exposing their credentials.
Observability (o11y)
conceptThe ability to understand a system's internal state from its external outputs: logs, metrics, and traces.
OLAP (OLAP)
conceptA computing approach optimized for complex analytical queries across large datasets, using multidimensional data models.
Open Container Initiative (OCI)
conceptAn open governance structure for creating industry standards around container image formats and runtime specifications.
Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP)
conceptA nonprofit foundation producing widely adopted resources, tools, and standards for application security.
OpenAPI Specification
conceptA standard, language-agnostic specification for describing RESTful APIs in a machine-readable format.
OpenID Connect (OIDC)
conceptAn identity layer on top of OAuth 2.0 that lets applications verify user identity and obtain basic profile information.
OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP)
conceptThe native protocol for transmitting telemetry data between OpenTelemetry components and backends.
Port Forwarding
conceptRedirecting network traffic from one address and port to another, commonly used for local debugging of remote or containerized services.
Protocol Buffers
conceptA language-neutral, platform-neutral binary serialization format developed by Google for structured data.
QUIC (QUIC)
conceptA modern transport protocol built on UDP that provides multiplexed, encrypted connections and powers HTTP/3.
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
conceptA protocol that allows a program to execute a procedure on a remote server as if it were a local function call.
Representational State Transfer (REST)
conceptAn architectural style for designing networked applications using stateless HTTP methods and resource-based URLs.
SCIM (SCIM)
conceptA protocol for automating user identity provisioning and deprovisioning across multiple systems and services.
SDK (SDK)
conceptA collection of tools, libraries, and documentation that helps developers build software for a specific platform or service.
Secure Shell (SSH)
conceptA cryptographic network protocol for secure remote access, command execution, and tunneling over untrusted networks.
Server-Sent Events (SSE)
conceptA server push technology enabling a client to receive automatic updates from a server over a single, long-lived HTTP connection.
Serverless
conceptA cloud execution model where the provider manages infrastructure and dynamically allocates resources per request.
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
conceptA formal contract between a service provider and customer defining expected service levels and consequences.
Service Level Indicator (SLI)
conceptA quantitative measure of a specific aspect of service reliability, like latency, availability, or error rate.
Service Level Objective (SLO)
conceptA target value or range for a service level measured by an SLI, like 99.9% availability over 30 days.
Service Mesh
conceptA dedicated infrastructure layer for managing service-to-service communication, providing observability, security, and reliability.
SOAP (SOAP)
conceptA protocol for exchanging structured information in web services using XML-based messaging over HTTP and other transports.
Stream
conceptA continuous, ordered flow of data or events processed incrementally in real time.
Structured Query Language (SQL)
conceptThe standard language for managing and querying relational databases.
TCP (TCP)
conceptA connection-oriented transport protocol that provides reliable, ordered delivery of data between applications over IP networks.
TLS (TLS)
conceptA cryptographic protocol that provides end-to-end encryption, authentication, and data integrity for communications over networks.
Traces
conceptRecords of requests as they flow through distributed systems, showing the path and timing across services.
UDP (UDP)
conceptA connectionless transport protocol that sends datagrams without guarantees of delivery, ordering, or duplicate protection.
Virtual Machine (VM)
conceptA software-based emulation of a physical computer that runs its own OS and applications in an isolated environment.
VPN (VPN)
conceptA technology that creates encrypted tunnels between networks, enabling secure remote access and private communication.
VPS (VPS)
conceptA virtualized server environment that provides dedicated resources on shared physical hardware with root-level access.
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
conceptA security layer that filters and monitors HTTP traffic to protect web applications from common attacks.
WebAssembly (WASM)
conceptA portable, high-performance binary instruction format designed as a compilation target for multiple programming languages.
WebAssembly System Interface (WASI)
conceptA standardized system interface that lets WebAssembly modules securely access OS-level resources like files and networking.
WebSockets
conceptA protocol providing full-duplex, persistent communication channels over a single TCP connection between client and server.
XML (XML)
conceptA markup language for encoding documents and data in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.
YAML (YAML)
conceptA human-readable data serialization format widely used for configuration files in DevOps tools and Kubernetes manifests.