| Compute |
| ======= |
| |
| The compute component of ``libcloud`` allows you to manage cloud and virtual |
| servers offered by different providers, more than 20 in total. |
| |
| In addition to managing the servers this component also allows you to run |
| deployment scripts on newly created servers. Deployment or "bootstrap" scripts |
| allow you to execute arbitrary shell commands. This functionality is usually |
| used to prepare your freshly created server, install your SSH key, and run a |
| configuration management tool (such as Puppet, Chef, or cfengine) on it. |
| |
| Terminology |
| ----------- |
| |
| * **Node** - represents a cloud or virtual server. |
| * **NodeSize** - represents node hardware configuration. Usually this is amount |
| of the available RAM, bandwidth, CPU speed and disk size. Most of the drivers |
| also expose hourly price (in dollars) for the Node of this size. |
| * **NodeImage** - represents an operating system image. |
| * **NodeLocation** - represents a physical location where a server can be. |
| * **NodeState** - represents a node state. Standard states are: ``running``, |
| ``rebooting``, ``terminated``, ``pending``, and ``unknown``. |
| |
| Examples |
| -------- |
| |
| We have :doc:`examples of several common patterns </compute/examples>`. |
| |
| API Reference |
| ------------- |
| |
| There is a reference to :doc:`all the methods on the base compute driver |
| </compute/api/>`. |
