Cloud Glossary: Letter L

Navigation: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

L

Lambda

AWS's serverless compute service that runs code in response to events without requiring server management.

LAN (Local Area Network)

A network that interconnects devices within a limited geographical area such as a building or campus.

Latency

The time delay between the initiation of a request and the receipt of a response, measured in milliseconds.

Load Balancer

A device or service that distributes incoming network traffic across multiple servers to ensure optimal resource utilization.

Load Balancing

The process of distributing workloads across multiple computing resources to optimize performance and prevent overload.

Logging

The practice of recording events, errors, and activities in applications and systems for monitoring and debugging.

Lifecycle Management

The systematic approach to managing data, applications, or resources throughout their entire operational lifespan.

Live Migration

The process of moving a running virtual machine from one host to another without downtime or service interruption.

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)

A protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services over an IP network.

License Management

The process of tracking, managing, and optimizing software licenses to ensure compliance and cost control.

LAMP Stack

A popular web development platform consisting of Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Python/Perl.

Large Language Model (LLM)

AI models trained on vast amounts of text data to understand and generate human-like text responses.

Layer 3

The network layer in the OSI model responsible for routing packets between different networks using IP addresses.

Layer 4

The transport layer in the OSI model that provides reliable data transfer services using protocols like TCP and UDP.

Layer 7

The application layer in the OSI model that provides network services directly to applications and end-users.

LEMP Stack

A web development platform consisting of Linux, Nginx (Engine-X), MySQL, and PHP/Python/Perl.

Load Testing

The practice of simulating realistic user loads on applications to identify performance bottlenecks and capacity limits.

Lock

A synchronization mechanism that prevents multiple processes from accessing shared resources simultaneously.

Log Analytics

The process of examining log data to identify patterns, troubleshoot issues, and gain insights into system behavior.

Log Aggregation

The process of collecting logs from multiple sources into a centralized location for analysis and monitoring.

Log Retention

The policy and practice of determining how long log data should be stored before deletion or archival.

Logical Volume

A virtual storage unit created from one or more physical storage devices that can be resized dynamically.

Loop

A programming construct that repeats a block of code until a specified condition is met or for a set number of iterations.

Low-Code

A software development approach that enables creation of applications with minimal hand-coding through visual interfaces.

LTS (Long Term Support)

A product lifecycle management policy providing extended support for specific software versions over several years.

Lustre

A high-performance parallel file system commonly used in high-performance computing environments.

Lambda Function

A small piece of code that runs in AWS Lambda service in response to events, following serverless architecture principles.

Landing Zone

A well-architected, multi-account AWS environment that serves as a starting point for deploying workloads and applications.

Lazy Loading

A design pattern that defers initialization of resources until they are actually needed to improve performance.

Leader Election

A process in distributed systems where one node is selected as the coordinator or primary node for specific tasks.

Legacy System

Older computing systems, programming languages, or applications that are still in use but may be outdated.

Library

A collection of pre-written code, functions, or modules that can be reused in software development projects.

Liveness Probe

A health check mechanism in container orchestration that determines if a container is still running properly.

Local Storage

Storage that is directly attached to a compute instance and provides high-performance but temporary data storage.

Logic App

Azure's cloud service for automating workflows and integrating apps, data, services, and systems.

Loose Coupling

A system design principle where components have minimal dependencies on each other, improving flexibility and maintainability.

LUN (Logical Unit Number)

A unique identifier for logical units of storage in storage area networks and SCSI environments.

Load Balancing Algorithm

The method used by load balancers to distribute incoming requests across available servers or resources.

Least Privilege

A security principle that grants users and processes only the minimum access rights necessary to perform their functions.

Lambda Layer

A ZIP archive containing libraries, custom runtimes, or other function dependencies that can be shared across Lambda functions.

Link Aggregation

The combining of multiple network connections in parallel to increase throughput and provide redundancy.

LDAP Directory

A hierarchical database optimized for reading, browsing, and searching directory information and user credentials.

Load Pattern

The characteristic way that system load varies over time, used for capacity planning and auto-scaling decisions.

Log Shipping

The process of automatically backing up transaction logs on a primary server and restoring them on secondary servers.

Logical Replication

A method of data replication based on logical changes to data rather than physical storage block changes.

Long Polling

A technique where the client requests information from the server and the server holds the request until data is available.

Loop Detection

A mechanism to identify and prevent infinite loops in routing protocols or distributed systems.

Low Latency

The minimal delay in data transmission, critical for real-time applications and high-frequency trading systems.

LVM (Logical Volume Manager)

A device mapper framework that provides logical volume management for the Linux kernel.

Lambda Runtime

The execution environment that runs Lambda functions, supporting multiple programming languages and versions.

Large Instance

Virtual machine configurations with high CPU, memory, or storage capacity designed for resource-intensive workloads.

Latency Optimization

Techniques and strategies to minimize delay in data transmission and response times in distributed systems.

Lease

A time-limited permission or lock that expires automatically, commonly used in distributed systems for coordination.

Load Shedding

The practice of deliberately dropping requests or reducing service quality to prevent system overload during peak demand.

Log Level

The severity or importance classification of log messages, typically including DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR, and FATAL.

Log Parsing

The process of analyzing and extracting structured information from unstructured log data for monitoring and analysis.

Lookup Table

A data structure used to replace runtime computation with simpler array indexing operations for performance optimization.

Loosely Coupled Architecture

A system design where components interact through well-defined interfaces with minimal dependencies between them.

Lambda Cold Start

The initialization time required when a Lambda function is invoked for the first time or after being idle.

Load Distribution

The strategy of spreading computational or network load across multiple resources to optimize performance and reliability.

Logical Separation

The isolation of resources or data through software-defined boundaries rather than physical separation.

Log Forwarding

The process of automatically sending log data from one system to another for centralized collection and analysis.