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VOCABULARY

This document provides a comprehensive glossary of AWS terms, acronyms, and their full forms used throughout this guide.


  1. AWS Core Services Acronyms
  2. Compute Terms
  3. Networking Terms
  4. Storage Terms
  5. Database Terms
  6. Security Terms
  7. DevOps & CI/CD Terms
  8. Monitoring & Observability Terms
  9. Infrastructure as Code Terms
  10. General Cloud Terms

AcronymFull FormDescription
AWSAmazon Web ServicesCloud computing platform by Amazon
EC2Elastic Compute CloudVirtual servers in the cloud
S3Simple Storage ServiceObject storage service
VPCVirtual Private CloudIsolated virtual network
IAMIdentity and Access ManagementUser access control service
RDSRelational Database ServiceManaged relational databases
LambdaAWS LambdaServerless compute service
ELBElastic Load BalancingDistributes incoming traffic
ASGAuto Scaling GroupAutomatic scaling of EC2 instances
EBSElastic Block StoreBlock storage for EC2
EFSElastic File SystemManaged file storage
FSxAmazon FSxThird-party file systems (Windows, Lustre, NetApp)
SQSSimple Queue ServiceMessage queuing service
SNSSimple Notification ServicePub/sub messaging service
KMSKey Management ServiceManaged encryption keys
SESSimple Email ServiceEmail sending service
SMSServer Migration ServiceMigrate on-premises servers
SSMSystems ManagerManaged instance configuration

TermFull FormDescription
AMIAmazon Machine ImageTemplate for launching EC2 instances
CPUCentral Processing UnitMain processor of a computer
GPUGraphics Processing UnitParallel processing unit
vCPUVirtual CPUVirtualized CPU core
RAMRandom Access MemoryTemporary data storage
NVMeNon-Volatile Memory ExpressHigh-speed storage protocol
ENAElastic Network AdapterEnhanced networking for EC2
EFAElastic Fabric AdapterHigh-performance computing networking
HPCHigh Performance ComputingParallel processing workloads
FaaSFunction as a ServiceServerless compute model
ECSElastic Container ServiceContainer orchestration service
EKSElastic Kubernetes ServiceManaged Kubernetes service
FargateAWS FargateServerless container compute
BeanstalkElastic BeanstalkPlatform as a Service (PaaS)
LightsailAmazon LightsailSimplified cloud platform
BatchAWS BatchBatch computing service
OutpostsAWS OutpostsOn-premises AWS infrastructure
Local ZonesAWS Local ZonesEdge locations for low latency
WavelengthAWS Wavelength5G edge computing

TermFull FormDescription
VPCVirtual Private CloudIsolated cloud network
CIDRClassless Inter-Domain RoutingIP addressing method
IPInternet ProtocolNetwork addressing protocol
IPv4Internet Protocol version 432-bit IP addressing
IPv6Internet Protocol version 6128-bit IP addressing
NATNetwork Address TranslationPrivate to public IP translation
NACLNetwork Access Control ListStateless firewall at subnet level
SGSecurity GroupStateful firewall at instance level
AZAvailability ZoneIsolated data center within region
DXDirect ConnectDedicated network connection
VPNVirtual Private NetworkEncrypted network tunnel
CGWCustomer GatewayOn-premises gateway device
VGWVirtual Private GatewayAWS VPN gateway
TGWTransit GatewayHub for VPC connectivity
PeeringVPC PeeringDirect VPC-to-VPC connection
ENIElastic Network InterfaceVirtual network card
EIPElastic IPStatic public IP address
DNSDomain Name SystemDomain to IP resolution
Route 53Amazon Route 53DNS web service
CFCloudFrontContent Delivery Network (CDN)
Edge LocationCloudFront EdgeCDN cache location
OriginCloudFront OriginSource server for CDN
TTLTime to LiveCache expiration time
SSLSecure Sockets LayerEncryption protocol (deprecated)
TLSTransport Layer SecurityModern encryption protocol
ACMAWS Certificate ManagerSSL/TLS certificate management
WAFWeb Application FirewallWeb security service
DDoSDistributed Denial of ServiceAttack type
ShieldAWS ShieldDDoS protection service
Global AcceleratorAWS Global AcceleratorNetwork optimization service
PrivateLinkAWS PrivateLinkPrivate connectivity
Private DNSPrivate DNSPrivate domain resolution

TermFull FormDescription
S3Simple Storage ServiceObject storage
IAInfrequent AccessLower-cost storage tier
GLACIERAmazon GlacierArchive storage class
DEEP_ARCHIVES3 Deep ArchiveLowest-cost archive tier
INTELLIGENT_TIERINGS3 Intelligent-TieringAuto-optimized storage
ONEZONE_IAS3 One Zone-IASingle AZ infrequent access
STANDARDS3 StandardDefault storage class
REDUCED_REDUNDANCYReduced Redundancy StorageLegacy storage class
EBSElastic Block StoreBlock storage for EC2
gp2General Purpose SSD (gp2)Previous-gen SSD volume
gp3General Purpose SSD (gp3)Latest-gen SSD volume
io1Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1)High-IOPS SSD volume
io2Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2)Latest high-IOPS volume
st1Throughput Optimized HDDHigh-throughput HDD
sc1Cold HDDLow-cost HDD volume
EFSElastic File SystemNFS file storage
FSxAmazon FSxThird-party file systems
FSx for WindowsFSx for Windows File ServerSMB file storage
FSx for LustreFSx for LustreHPC file storage
FSx for NetApp ONTAPFSx for ONTAPMulti-protocol storage
FSx for OpenZFSFSx for OpenZFSZFS file storage
IOPSInput/Output Operations Per SecondStorage performance metric
MB/sMegabytes per secondThroughput metric
GBGigabyte1,024 MB storage unit
TBTerabyte1,024 GB storage unit
PBPetabyte1,024 TB storage unit
SnapshotEBS SnapshotPoint-in-time backup
DLMData Lifecycle ManagerAutomated snapshot management
Storage GatewayAWS Storage GatewayHybrid storage service
S3 File GatewayS3 File GatewayFile interface to S3
FSx File GatewayFSx File GatewayFile interface to FSx
Volume GatewayVolume GatewayiSCSI block storage
Tape GatewayTape GatewayVirtual tape library
Multi-AttachEBS Multi-AttachMultiple instance access

TermFull FormDescription
RDSRelational Database ServiceManaged SQL databases
AuroraAmazon AuroraCloud-native relational DB
Aurora ServerlessAurora ServerlessAuto-scaling Aurora
Multi-AZMulti-Availability ZoneHA database deployment
Read ReplicaRead ReplicaRead-only database copy
DynamoDBAmazon DynamoDBNoSQL database service
DAXDynamoDB AcceleratorIn-memory cache for DynamoDB
ElastiCacheAmazon ElastiCacheIn-memory caching service
RedisRedisIn-memory data store
MemcachedMemcachedIn-memory cache system
DocumentDBAmazon DocumentDBMongoDB-compatible database
KeyspacesAmazon KeyspacesCassandra-compatible DB
NeptuneAmazon NeptuneGraph database service
TimestreamAmazon TimestreamTime-series database
QuantumDBAmazon QuantumDBLedger database
QLDBAmazon QLDBQuantum Ledger Database
RedshiftAmazon RedshiftData warehouse service
Redshift SpectrumRedshift SpectrumQuery data in S3
Database Migration ServiceDMSDatabase migration service
SCTSchema Conversion ToolSchema migration tool
JDBCJava Database ConnectivityDatabase driver standard
ODBCOpen Database ConnectivityDatabase driver standard
ACIDAtomicity, Consistency, Isolation, DurabilityTransaction properties
SQLStructured Query LanguageRelational DB language
NoSQLNot Only SQLNon-relational databases
OLTPOnline Transaction ProcessingTransactional workloads
OLAPOnline Analytical ProcessingAnalytical workloads
Primary KeyPrimary KeyUnique record identifier
Secondary IndexSecondary IndexAlternative query path
GSIGlobal Secondary IndexDynamoDB index type
LSILocal Secondary IndexDynamoDB index type
Partition KeyPartition KeyDynamoDB primary key
Sort KeySort KeyDynamoDB composite key
WCUWrite Capacity UnitsDynamoDB write metric
RCURead Capacity UnitsDynamoDB read metric
TTLTime to LiveItem expiration
StreamDynamoDB StreamChange data capture
TTLTimestreamTime-series data

TermFull FormDescription
IAMIdentity and Access ManagementAccess control service
UserIAM UserIdentity for people/applications
GroupIAM GroupCollection of IAM users
RoleIAM RoleTemporary credentials
PolicyIAM PolicyPermission document
SCPService Control PolicyOrganization policy
Permission BoundaryPermission BoundaryMax permission limit
MFAMulti-Factor AuthenticationAdditional security layer
TOTPTime-based One-Time PasswordMFA code type
U2FUniversal 2nd FactorHardware MFA device
Access KeyAccess Key IDProgrammatic credential
Secret KeySecret Access KeyProgrammatic credential
STSSecurity Token ServiceTemporary credentials
KMSKey Management ServiceEncryption key management
CMKCustomer Master KeyKMS key type
HSMHardware Security ModuleDedicated key storage
CloudHSMAWS CloudHSMManaged HSM service
Secrets ManagerAWS Secrets ManagerSecret management
Parameter StoreSystems Manager Parameter StoreConfiguration storage
SecureStringSecureStringEncrypted parameter
OrganizationsAWS OrganizationsMulti-account management
OUOrganizational UnitAccount grouping
Control TowerAWS Control TowerLanding zone solution
GuardDutyAmazon GuardDutyThreat detection service
InspectorAmazon InspectorVulnerability assessment
MacieAmazon MacieData discovery service
Security HubAWS Security HubSecurity aggregation
DetectiveAmazon DetectiveSecurity investigation
ConfigAWS ConfigResource configuration
CloudTrailAWS CloudTrailAPI activity logging
ArtifactAWS ArtifactCompliance documents
Audit ManagerAWS Audit ManagerAudit management
CognitoAmazon CognitoUser identity service
User PoolCognito User PoolUser directory
Identity PoolCognito Identity PoolAWS credential provider
OIDCOpenID ConnectAuthentication protocol
SAMLSecurity Assertion Markup LanguageSSO protocol
SSOSingle Sign-OnOne login for multiple apps
Directory ServiceAWS Directory ServiceManaged Active Directory
ADActive DirectoryMicrosoft directory service
Managed ADAWS Managed ADManaged Active Directory
AD ConnectorAD ConnectorOn-prem AD proxy
Simple ADSimple ADBasic directory service
WAFWeb Application FirewallWeb security
ShieldAWS ShieldDDoS protection
Shield StandardShield StandardFree DDoS protection
Shield AdvancedShield AdvancedPremium DDoS protection
Firewall ManagerAWS Firewall ManagerCentralized firewall rules
Network FirewallAWS Network FirewallNetwork security service
Encryption at RestEncryption at RestData encryption stored
Encryption in TransitEncryption in TransitData encryption moving
SSEServer-Side EncryptionAWS-managed encryption
SSE-S3SSE with S3 KeysS3-managed encryption
SSE-KMSSSE with KMS KeysKMS-managed encryption
SSE-CSSE with Customer KeysCustomer-managed encryption
CSEClient-Side EncryptionClient-managed encryption
PCI DSSPayment Card Industry Data Security StandardPayment security standard
HIPAAHealth Insurance Portability and Accountability ActHealthcare data standard
SOCService Organization ControlCompliance framework
ISOInternational Organization for StandardizationQuality standards
FedRAMPFederal Risk and Authorization Management ProgramUS government standard
GDPRGeneral Data Protection RegulationEU privacy regulation
NISTNational Institute of Standards and TechnologyUS standards body

TermFull FormDescription
CIContinuous IntegrationFrequent code integration
CDContinuous Delivery/DeploymentAutomated deployment
PipelineCI/CD PipelineAutomated workflow
CodeCommitAWS CodeCommitGit repository service
CodeBuildAWS CodeBuildBuild service
CodeDeployAWS CodeDeployDeployment service
CodePipelineAWS CodePipelineCI/CD orchestration
CodeArtifactAWS CodeArtifactPackage repository
CodeStarAWS CodeStarDevelopment environment
Cloud9AWS Cloud9Cloud IDE
BuildspecBuild SpecificationCodeBuild configuration
AppSpecApplication SpecificationCodeDeploy configuration
Deployment GroupDeployment GroupDeployment target set
Blue/GreenBlue/Green DeploymentZero-downtime deployment
CanaryCanary DeploymentGradual rollout
RollingRolling DeploymentSequential update
In-PlaceIn-Place DeploymentDirect update
RollbackDeployment RollbackRevert to previous version
BuildBuild ProcessCode compilation
ArtifactBuild ArtifactBuild output
StagePipeline StagePipeline phase
ActionPipeline ActionStage step
SourceSource StageCode retrieval stage
TestTest StageTesting stage
ApprovalManual ApprovalHuman gate
TriggerPipeline TriggerPipeline start event
WebhookWebhookHTTP callback
BranchGit BranchCode line
MergeGit MergeBranch combination
PRPull RequestCode review request
MRMerge RequestGitLab merge request
CommitGit CommitCode snapshot
RepositoryGit RepositoryCode storage
CloneGit CloneRepository copy
ForkGit ForkRepository copy
TagGit TagRelease marker
HEADGit HEADCurrent commit
DevOpsDevelopment OperationsDevelopment + Operations
DevSecOpsDevelopment Security OperationsDevOps + Security
GitOpsGit OperationsGit-based operations
SRESite Reliability EngineeringReliability practice
SLAService Level AgreementService commitment
SLOService Level ObjectiveTarget metric
SLIService Level IndicatorMeasured metric
MTTRMean Time to RecoveryRecovery speed
MTBFMean Time Between FailuresReliability metric
MTTFMean Time to FailureFailure prediction

TermFull FormDescription
CloudWatchAmazon CloudWatchMonitoring service
MetricsCloudWatch MetricsTime-series data
AlarmsCloudWatch AlarmsMetric thresholds
LogsCloudWatch LogsLog management
InsightsCloudWatch InsightsLog querying
DashboardCloudWatch DashboardVisual monitoring
EventsCloudWatch EventsEvent routing
EventBridgeAmazon EventBridgeEvent bus service
RulesEventBridge RulesEvent patterns
TargetsEventBridge TargetsEvent destinations
SchedulerEventBridge SchedulerScheduled tasks
X-RayAWS X-RayDistributed tracing
TraceX-Ray TraceRequest path
SegmentX-Ray SegmentService processing
SubsegmentX-Ray SubsegmentOperation detail
Service MapX-Ray Service MapArchitecture view
SamplingX-Ray SamplingTrace selection
AnnotationX-Ray AnnotationIndexed metadata
MetadataX-Ray MetadataNon-indexed data
ServiceLensCloudWatch ServiceLensCombined observability
CloudTrailAWS CloudTrailAPI audit logging
TrailCloudTrail TrailLog configuration
EventCloudTrail EventAPI call record
Management EventManagement EventControl plane event
Data EventData EventData plane event
InsightsCloudTrail InsightsAnomaly detection
LakeCloudTrail LakeSQL query capability
DigestCloudTrail DigestIntegrity verification
OpenSearchAmazon OpenSearch ServiceSearch and analytics
KibanaOpenSearch DashboardsVisualization tool
IndexOpenSearch IndexData collection
ShardOpenSearch ShardIndex partition
NodeOpenSearch NodeCluster member
ClusterOpenSearch ClusterNode collection
ISMIndex State ManagementLifecycle automation
UltraWarmUltraWarmCold storage tier
Health DashboardAWS Health DashboardService health view
Personal HealthPersonal Health DashboardAccount-specific health
Service HealthService Health DashboardPublic AWS status
PHDPersonal Health DashboardAccount health view
EventHealth EventService event
EntityAffected EntityImpacted resource
Log GroupCloudWatch Log GroupLog collection
Log StreamCloudWatch Log StreamLog sequence
Metric FilterMetric FilterLog to metric
Subscription FilterSubscription FilterLog routing
RetentionLog RetentionLog storage period
AnomalyAnomaly DetectionUnusual pattern
Composite AlarmComposite AlarmCombined alarm
Anomaly DetectionCloudWatch Anomaly DetectionML-based detection

TermFull FormDescription
IaCInfrastructure as CodeCode-based infrastructure
TerraformHashiCorp TerraformIaC tool
HCLHashiCorp Configuration LanguageTerraform language
ProviderTerraform ProviderCloud API plugin
ResourceTerraform ResourceInfrastructure component
ModuleTerraform ModuleReusable configuration
StateTerraform StateInfrastructure tracking
BackendTerraform BackendState storage
WorkspaceTerraform WorkspaceEnvironment separation
PlanTerraform PlanChange preview
ApplyTerraform ApplyChange execution
DestroyTerraform DestroyResource removal
ImportTerraform ImportExisting resource
OutputTerraform OutputExported value
VariableTerraform VariableInput parameter
LocalsTerraform LocalsLocal values
Data SourceTerraform Data SourceRead-only resource
ProvisionerTerraform ProvisionerPost-creation script
CloudTerraform CloudManaged Terraform
EnterpriseTerraform EnterpriseSelf-hosted Terraform
SentinelSentinel PolicyPolicy as Code
OPAOpen Policy AgentPolicy engine
PackerHashiCorp PackerMachine image builder
BuilderPacker BuilderImage creator
ProvisionerPacker ProvisionerImage configurator
AnsibleRed Hat AnsibleConfiguration management
PlaybookAnsible PlaybookAutomation script
PlayAnsible PlayPlaybook section
TaskAnsible TaskSingle action
RoleAnsible RoleReusable automation
InventoryAnsible InventoryTarget hosts
ModuleAnsible ModuleTask unit
CloudFormationAWS CloudFormationAWS IaC service
TemplateCloudFormation TemplateInfrastructure definition
StackCloudFormation StackResource collection
Change SetChange SetChange preview
Stack SetStack SetMulti-account stacks
Nested StackNested StackIncluded stack
ExportCloudFormation ExportShared output
ImportCloudFormation ImportImported value
CDKAWS Cloud Development KitCode-based CloudFormation
ConstructCDK ConstructCloudFormation component
StackCDK StackCDK stack
AppCDK AppCDK application
SynthesizeCDK SynthesizeGenerate template
BootstrapCDK BootstrapInitial setup
Service CatalogAWS Service CatalogApproved products
PortfolioService Catalog PortfolioProduct collection
ProductService Catalog ProductCloudFormation template
Provisioned ProductProvisioned ProductDeployed product
ConstraintService Catalog ConstraintDeployment rules
ConfigAWS ConfigResource compliance
Config RuleConfig RuleCompliance check
RemediationRemediation ActionAuto-fix action
Conformance PackConformance PackRule collection
AggregatorConfig AggregatorMulti-account view

TermFull FormDescription
Cloud ComputingCloud ComputingOn-demand computing
RegionAWS RegionGeographic area
AZAvailability ZoneData center zone
Edge LocationEdge LocationCDN point of presence
Local ZoneLocal ZoneCity-level zone
Wavelength ZoneWavelength Zone5G edge zone
OutpostAWS OutpostOn-premises AWS
HAHigh AvailabilityMinimal downtime
DRDisaster RecoveryRecovery from disaster
RPORecovery Point ObjectiveData loss tolerance
RTORecovery Time ObjectiveRecovery time target
SLAService Level AgreementAvailability commitment
TCOTotal Cost of OwnershipFull cost analysis
OpExOperational ExpenditureRunning costs
CapExCapital ExpenditureUpfront costs
Pay-as-you-goPay-as-you-goUsage-based pricing
ReservedReserved Instance1-3 year commitment
SpotSpot InstanceSurplus capacity
On-DemandOn-Demand InstancePay per use
Savings PlanSavings PlanUsage commitment
Enterprise DiscountEnterprise DiscountVolume discount
Free TierAWS Free TierFree usage tier
Consolidated BillingConsolidated BillingSingle bill
Billing AlarmBilling AlarmCost alert
Cost ExplorerCost ExplorerCost analysis
BudgetAWS BudgetCost limit
Cost Allocation TagCost Allocation TagCost tracking tag
Multi-tenantMulti-tenantShared infrastructure
Single-tenantSingle-tenantDedicated infrastructure
ScalabilityScalabilityGrowth capability
ElasticityElasticityAuto scaling
LatencyLatencyResponse delay
ThroughputThroughputData transfer rate
BandwidthBandwidthNetwork capacity
APIApplication Programming InterfaceSoftware interface
RESTRepresentational State TransferAPI architecture
SDKSoftware Development KitDevelopment tools
CLICommand Line InterfaceTerminal commands
ConsoleAWS ConsoleWeb interface
ARNAmazon Resource NameResource identifier
TagResource TagMetadata label
MetadataMetadataData about data
IdempotencyIdempotencySame result on repeat
Eventual ConsistencyEventual ConsistencyDelayed consistency
Strong ConsistencyStrong ConsistencyImmediate consistency
StatelessStatelessNo session data
StatefulStatefulSession data kept
MicroservicesMicroservicesSmall services
MonolithMonolithic ApplicationSingle application
ServerlessServerlessNo server management
ContainerContainerLightweight VM
DockerDockerContainer platform
KubernetesKubernetesContainer orchestration
K8sKubernetesShort form
VMVirtual MachineVirtual computer
HypervisorHypervisorVM manager
JSONJavaScript Object NotationData format
YAMLYAML Ain’t Markup LanguageData format
XMLExtensible Markup LanguageData format
HTTPHypertext Transfer ProtocolWeb protocol
HTTPSHTTP SecureEncrypted HTTP
RESTRepresentational State TransferAPI style
GraphQLGraphQLQuery language
gRPCgRPCRPC framework
WebSocketWebSocketBi-directional protocol
TCPTransmission Control ProtocolNetwork protocol
UDPUser Datagram ProtocolNetwork protocol
SSHSecure ShellRemote access
FTPFile Transfer ProtocolFile transfer
SFTPSSH File Transfer ProtocolSecure file transfer
SMTPSimple Mail Transfer ProtocolEmail protocol
IMAPInternet Message Access ProtocolEmail retrieval
POP3Post Office Protocol 3Email retrieval

CategoryServices
ComputeEC2, Lambda, ECS, EKS, Fargate, Beanstalk, Batch, Lightsail
StorageS3, EBS, EFS, FSx, Storage Gateway, Backup
DatabaseRDS, Aurora, DynamoDB, ElastiCache, Redshift, DocumentDB, Neptune
NetworkingVPC, Route 53, CloudFront, Direct Connect, VPN, Transit Gateway, Load Balancer
SecurityIAM, KMS, Secrets Manager, GuardDuty, Inspector, WAF, Shield, Security Hub
DevOpsCodeCommit, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, CodePipeline, CloudFormation, CDK
MonitoringCloudWatch, CloudTrail, X-Ray, OpenSearch, Health Dashboard
IaCTerraform, Packer, Ansible, CloudFormation, CDK, Config, Service Catalog

CommandDescription
aws configureConfigure CLI credentials
aws s3 lsList S3 buckets
aws ec2 describe-instancesList EC2 instances
aws lambda list-functionsList Lambda functions
aws cloudformation list-stacksList CloudFormation stacks
aws dynamodb list-tablesList DynamoDB tables
aws rds describe-db-instancesList RDS instances
aws iam list-usersList IAM users
aws cloudwatch list-metricsList CloudWatch metrics
aws logs describe-log-groupsList CloudWatch log groups

VersionDateChanges
1.02024-01-15Initial vocabulary document

This vocabulary document is a living reference and will be updated as new AWS services and terms are introduced.