Cloud Glossary: Letter W

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

W

WAN (Wide Area Network)

A network that extends over a large geographical area, connecting multiple local area networks (LANs).

WAF (Web Application Firewall)

A security service that protects web applications by filtering, monitoring, and blocking malicious HTTP traffic.

Warm Start

The process of resuming execution from a previously initialized state, reducing startup time compared to cold starts.

Webhook

An HTTP callback that allows applications to provide real-time information to other applications when events occur.

Web API

An application programming interface that allows communication between different software applications over the web.

Web Application

A software application that runs on web servers and is accessed through web browsers over a network.

Web Browser

A software application for accessing information on the World Wide Web, interpreting HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Web Cache

A system that stores copies of web documents to reduce bandwidth usage and server load.

Web Crawler

An automated program that systematically browses the web to index content for search engines or data collection.

Web Framework

A software framework designed to support the development of web applications, APIs, and web services.

Web Hosting

A service that provides the infrastructure and technologies needed for websites to be accessible on the Internet.

Web Server

Computer software that serves web pages to clients, typically web browsers, in response to HTTP requests.

Web Service

A software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network.

Web Socket

A communication protocol that provides full-duplex communication channels over a single TCP connection.

WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication)

A technology that enables peer-to-peer communication of audio, video, and data in web browsers.

Webhook Security

Security measures implemented to protect webhook endpoints from unauthorized access and malicious payloads.

Web Traffic

The amount of data sent and received by visitors to a website, measured in requests, sessions, or bandwidth.

White Label

A product or service produced by one company that other companies rebrand to make it appear as their own.

Widget

A small software component that provides specific functionality within a larger application or interface.

Wi-Fi

A wireless networking technology that allows devices to connect to the internet without physical cables.

Wildcard Certificate

An SSL/TLS certificate that secures a domain and all its subdomains with a single certificate.

Window Function

A SQL function that performs calculations across a set of table rows related to the current row.

Workflow

A sequence of connected steps or tasks that need to be completed to achieve a specific business goal.

Workload

The amount of processing that a computer system or component is performing at any given time.

Worker Node

A machine in a cluster that runs containerized applications as directed by the control plane.

Worker Process

A background process that handles specific tasks or jobs, often part of a queue-based system.

Write-Through Cache

A caching strategy where data is written to both the cache and the backing store simultaneously.

WSDL (Web Services Description Language)

An XML-based language used to describe the functionality offered by a web service.

WSS (WebSocket Secure)

A secure version of the WebSocket protocol that provides encrypted communication over TLS.

Web Assembly (WASM)

A binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine that enables high-performance applications on web pages.

Web Components

A set of web platform APIs that allow creation of custom, reusable HTML elements.

Web Content Management

The process of creating, editing, organizing, and publishing content on websites.

Web Deployment

The process of making a web application available for use by uploading it to a web server.

Web Frontend

The client-side part of a web application that users interact with directly through their browsers.

Web Gateway

A server that acts as an intermediary between web clients and backend services or applications.

Web Hook Handler

A component that processes incoming webhook requests and executes appropriate actions based on the payload.

Web Interface

The means by which users interact with web applications through graphical elements in browsers.

Web Load Balancer

A device that distributes incoming web requests across multiple servers to ensure optimal resource utilization.

Web Optimization

Techniques used to improve website performance, including speed, responsiveness, and user experience.

Web Portal

A web-based platform that provides access to information, applications, and services from a single interface.

Web Proxy

An intermediary server that forwards web requests between clients and servers, often for security or caching.

Web Scraping

The process of extracting data from websites using automated tools or scripts.

Web Security

The protection of websites and web applications from cyber threats and vulnerabilities.

Web Standards

Formal standards and technical specifications that define and describe aspects of the World Wide Web.

Web Token

A compact, URL-safe means of representing claims to be transferred between two parties in web applications.

Web Workers

Scripts that run in the background, separate from the main browser thread, enabling parallel processing.