VPC Glossary

A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is a private network interface for collections of DigitalOcean resources. VPC networks are inaccessible from the public internet and other VPC networks, and traffic on them doesn’t count against bandwidth usage. You can link VPC networks to each other using VPC peering connections (currently in early access).

This glossary defines the core concepts behind VPC to help build your mental model of how VPC work and understand what the documentation is referring to when it uses certain terminology.

CIDR Notation

Classless Inter-Domain Routing notation, or CIDR notation, is a method of representing an IP address network range.

cloud-init

cloud-init is an industry standard instance initialization tool that allows you to inject customized configurations into a Droplet at creation time, such as setting up a user with specific privileges. Using cloud-init can save you provisioning and setup time by allowing you to automate common setup tasks.

DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol that automates the assignment of IP addresses.

Gateway

A gateway is a server or router that provides access to networks from other networks or the public internet.

IP

The Internet Protocol (IP) is a communications protocol used to connect computers across a network, specifically the internet. IP consists of rules and regulations for transmission of packets across a network including routing and addressing. IP ensures that the packets of data that travel across a network arrive at the correct location.

Network

A network is a collection interconnected servers or computers that communicate and share resources amongst each other.

Packet

Packets, or datagrams, are blocks of data that are transmitted by a computer or device and forwarded to other devices in a network, such as an application, server, or internet-accessible device. Packets are the most basic unit of data transmission across networks and the internet.