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While some terms across the cloud computing industry are standard, such as a firewall or IP address, Aviatrix works with multiple CSPs (Cloud Service Providers) who use different vocabulary for similar concepts. This document gives you, an Aviatrix user, a comprehensive list of common cloud computing terms and their synonyms.
Aviatrix termDefinitionAWSAzureGCPOCI
AttachmentAttachment (way to connect to a gateway)AttachmentVirtual Local Area Network (VLAN) AttachmentVCN Attachment/RPC attachment
Availability Zone (AZ)Locations in different regions that can sustain local failures. Each Availability Zone has a separate data center.AZ (Availability Zone)AZ (Availability Zone)AZ (Availability Zone)AD (Availability Domain)
Custom or user-defined routesRoutes designed by users instead of by the cloud providerUser-Defined Routing (UDR)User-Defined Route (UDR)Custom routes (as opposed to system routes)
Customer GatewayCustomer router that connects with VGW/TGW/DXGWCustomer Gateway (CGW)Local network gatewayOn-premises VPN GatewayCustomer Premises Equipment (CPE)
Data storage solutionSeparate components or virtual sites for cloud storageS3 buckets (Simple Storage Service)Azure Blob StorageGoogle Cloud StorageObject Storage service
Domain Name System (DNS)The Domain Name System or “phonebook for the Internet” translate the domain names that are easier for humans to remember, such as www.example.com, to the IP (Internet Protocol) addresses that distinguish devices, websites, and other Internet entities from each other.Route 53 (DNS)Azure DNSCloud DNSOracle DNS
Guard Duty + Guard Duty EnforcementA threat detection system that can detect and eliminate threatsAmazon Guard Duty (detects threats but does not act on them)SentinelGoogle Cloud ArmorCloud Access Security Broker (CABS)
IAM (Identity Access Management)Management of users accounts and permission — important for accessibility and securityAWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)Microsoft Entra IDCloud IAM and Cloud Identity Aware ProxyOracle Identity and Access Management or Cloud Identity Cloud service (SaaS based)
Internet GatewayA service that provides internet connection to the Virtual MachineIGW (Internet Gateway)Public IP Addresses are automatically able to connect to the InternetCloud NAT provides outgoing connectivity for the resources: Compute Engine VM Internet Gateway (Virtual Machine) instances without external IP addresses
Load balancingBalancing the “load” or effort of a network so that no one cloud machine is overworked.ALB (Application Load Balancing) or Elastic Load Balancing (ELB)Azure Load Balancer or Application GatewayCloud Load Balancer, TCP/UDP Network Load Balancing, or Network Load BalancingOracle Cloud Infrastructure Load Balancing or Infrastructure Flexible Network Load Balancing service (Network Load Balancer)
Machine image/imagingA virtual resource or template that contains all the information required to launch, backup, or restore an instance or virtual machineAMI (Amazon Machine Image)VM ImageMachine imageCustom image
NAT GatewayAllows private subnets to connect to the InternetNAT Gateway (Network Address Translation Gateway)Azure NAT GatewayCloud NATNAT Gateway
Network ACL (Access Control List)A list on a router that shows which traffic should be allowed or blocked from the system.NACL (Network Access Control List)Managed via NSGS (Network Security Groups)Firewall RulesSLs (Security Lists): Default, Custom
Network interfaceA physical or digital connection and a network and a networkVIFs (Virtual Interfaces) — Public, Private, or TransitNetwork interfaceNetwork InterfaceVirtual Network Interface Card (VNIC)
Physical disk/volumeStorage for cloud-related dataVolumeData DiskBucketOracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) File Storage
PeeringFree data sharing between two providers, services, or other Internet entitiesVPC (Virtual Private Cloud) PeeringVirtual Network (VN) PeeringVPC (Virtual Private cloud) Network PeeringLocal / Remote VCN (Virtual Cloud Network) Peering
Site2CloudConnection between an on-premises system and the cloudDXGW (Direct Connect Gateway)ExpressRouteInterConnectFastConnect
SubnetA separate system within a networkPublic or private subnet (specified at the time of creation)Subnet (defined as public or private by whether or not it is connected to an Internet Gateway)Subnet (public by default; remove the default route for Internet access to make the VPC private)Public or private subnet (specified at the time of creation)
Transit GatewayA network transit hub that can interconnect VPCs and on-premise networksTGW (Transit Gateway)Azure Virtual WANCloud Router (NCC)Dynamic Routing Gateway (DRG) The intermediary can be a VCN or a dynamic routing gateway (DRG) in your on-premises network
Virtual machinesA computer resource with its own operating system and functions that can run alongside similar resources (other Virtual Machines) on the same physical host machine.EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instanceAzure Virtual MachineIAAS / GCE (Google Compute Engine) or VM (Virtual Machine)/PAAS/ GAE (Google APP Engine)Oracle Compute, including Flexible Virtual Machines and bare metal compute
VPN GatewayConnects Site-to-Site VPN tunnels to a specific VPC/VNet/VCNVGW (Virtual Private Gateway)VNG (VPN Gateway)Cloud VPN GatewayVPN Connect