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Cloud Computing & DevOps vocabulary · Servers and Virtual Machines

Instance

Meaning in cloud computing & devops, with examples

/ˈɪnstəns/nounCore term

In cloud computing & devops, instance means: One running copy of a virtual server or service in the cloud. You choose its size, such as how many CPUs and how much memory it has, and pay while it runs.

In Turkish: bulut sunucusu, sanal sunucu, instance

How it is used

Very common on AWS (EC2 instance, RDS instance) and in general talk: 'launch an instance', 'stop the instance', 'instance type'. It can also mean one copy of an application: 'we run three instances of the API'.

Example sentences

  1. Please stop the test instances over the weekend so we don't pay for them.

  2. We moved the database to a larger instance type with 64 GB of memory.

Common collocations

  • launch an instance
  • instance type
  • stop an instance
  • EC2 instance
  • terminate an instance
  • virtual machineA complete computer, with its own operating system, that runs as software on a physical machine. One physical server can host many virtual machines at once.
  • serverA computer, physical or virtual, that runs services and answers requests from other computers over a network, for example by sending web pages or data.
  • spot instanceSpare cloud capacity sold at a much lower price, which the provider can take back at short notice when it needs the capacity again.
  • reserved instanceCloud capacity you commit to use for one or three years in exchange for a large discount compared with normal on-demand prices.
  • spin upTo quickly create and start a new server, container or environment, usually with a command or a few clicks.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Servers and Virtual Machines

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