Cloudways Platform Terminology - Quick Reference

Understanding platform-specific terminology is key to maximizing your experience with Cloudways. This guide explains the most commonly used terms, features, and components across the Cloudways cloud hosting environment.

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned developer, this quick reference will help you navigate and use the Cloudways Platform more efficiently.

Table of Contents:

The Cloudways Platform includes a range of terms and features that are essential to managing your hosting environment efficiently. This section provides quick, clear definitions to help you better understand how each component works and interacts within the platform.

A website or web application hosted on Cloudways servers. For example, WordPress, Magento, Laravel, or custom PHP apps are all considered applications on Cloudways.

Cloudways Autonomous provides high-availability managed hosting using Kubernetes technology. It is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses looking for scalability, reliability, and reduced downtime.

Backup and Restore is a safety feature that lets you save copies of your website data (including webfiles and databases) and bring them back if something goes wrong. Backups can be automatic or manual, and restoring lets you quickly roll back to a previous version to fix issues or recover lost data.

Block storage allows you to increase your server’s storage space (e.g., if you run out of disk space) without needing to change your server type. It’s especially useful for ecommerce stores or large applications that need more room for files, backups, or media.

A WordPress caching plugin developed by Cloudways to enhance website performance through various caching mechanisms, including file-level caching, Gzip compression, and database optimization. It comes pre-installed on Cloudways-optimized WordPress applications but needs to be installed manually on other setups.

The infrastructure provider on which your server is hosted. Cloudways currently supports multiple cloud providers including:

A web-based interface for managing MySQL/MariaDB databases. It eliminates the need for third-party tools and allows you to run queries, browse tables, and export/import data.

A system that translates user-friendly domain names (like yourwebsite.com) into IP addresses that servers understand, allowing users to access your website.

An optional add-on used for sending transactional emails (like order confirmations or password resets) from your application with high deliverability.

Cloudways Flexible is the traditional managed hosting model offered by Cloudways. It employs Virtual Private Server (VPS) technology and supports a variety of applications and cloud providers, allowing greater customization and control.

Use Git repositories to deploy application code directly from your version control system to the Cloudways server.

A security feature that restricts access to your server or database to only specified IP addresses.

The process of moving your website or web application from another hosting provider to Cloudways, using either the free Cloudways Migrator Plugin or manual migration methods.

Automated scanning and monitoring system that detects and mitigates malware threats to protect your websites and data integrity.

A graphical client for managing MySQL databases remotely. While Cloudways offers its own database manager, advanced users can connect using MySQL Workbench.

A precise backup recovery method that allows you to restore your application’s data to a specific timestamp, minimizing data loss.

A logical grouping of related applications and servers under one label. Projects help with organization, billing, and user access management.

Cloudways offers a RESTful API that allows developers to programmatically access and manage the Cloudways Platform, enabling integration of its services into their workflows or applications for automation.

A secure protocol for accessing your server’s command line interface. SSH is essential for developers and system administrators who want terminal-level control.

A virtual machine or cloud instance that hosts your applications, databases, and files.

This includes all configuration options related to a server, such as credentials, software packages, PHP versions, memory limits, and more.

A secure way to transfer files between your local machine and the Cloudways server. You can use tools like FileZilla or WinSCP.

A clone of your live application used for testing updates, features, or changes before deploying them to production.

A feature that allows you to transfer changes from the staging environment to the live application in one click, once testing is successful.

Users that you add to your Cloudways account with different roles and permissions. You can control who has access to specific projects, applications, servers, or platform tools and features such as Support and Billing.

An added layer of security requiring both a password and a temporary verification code (usually from an authenticator app) during login.

Automated alerts or triggers that can be used for tasks such as code deployment or server status monitoring when a specific event occurs.

SSL certificates encrypt data between the user and your website, ensuring secure communication and are usually denoted by a padlock in your browser’s address bar. Cloudways supports free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates and custom ones as well.

This glossary is your go-to reference for understanding the Cloudways platform. Knowing these terms will help you get more out of the services, collaborate better with your team, and troubleshoot more efficiently. Keep this guide handy as you build, deploy, and manage your applications on Cloudways.

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