Cloud hosting & Tally on Cloud glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms you'll meet when moving business software to the cloud. Free to quote and link to – please credit M A Global Network.
- Bandwidth
- The amount of data that can be transferred to and from a server, usually quoted per month (for example 5 TB). Hosting plans either meter bandwidth or offer it unmetered within fair use.Plan bandwidth allowances
- Bare-metal server
- Another name for a dedicated physical server that runs one customer's operating system directly on the hardware, without a hypervisor shared with other customers.Dedicated server hosting
- Busy accounting software
- Accounting and inventory software widely used by small and mid-sized businesses in India. Like Tally, it is a Windows application that can be hosted on a cloud server for multi-location access.Busy on Cloud
- Carrier-neutral
- A data centre that allows connections from multiple internet carriers rather than one, so customers can choose providers and get redundant network paths.Server colocation
- Colocation
- Renting space, power, cooling and network connectivity in a data centre for servers you own. The provider runs the facility; you keep ownership and control of the hardware.Server colocation
- DDoS protection
- Defences against Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks, in which many machines flood a server with traffic to knock it offline. Hardware-level protection filters attack traffic before it reaches the server.Managed Windows VPS
- Dedicated server
- A physical server used by a single customer, with all of its CPU, RAM and storage reserved for that customer. Suited to heavy databases, large ERP installations and many concurrent users.Dedicated server hosting
- Firewall
- A security system that allows or blocks network traffic according to rules. A managed firewall is configured and maintained by the hosting provider.Managed RDP servers
- Hybrid cloud
- An IT setup that combines private infrastructure (on-premise or hosted) with public cloud services, with workloads placed where they fit best.Private & hybrid cloud
- Hypervisor
- Software that runs on a physical server and divides its resources into multiple virtual machines. Common examples are VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V and KVM.Server virtualisation explained
- Input tax credit (ITC)
- Under India's GST system, the tax a registered business pays on purchases – including hosting – that it can offset against the GST it collects. A proper GST invoice is needed to claim it.Pricing and GST
- IP whitelisting
- A security control that only allows connections from approved IP addresses. Applied to remote desktop servers, it blocks login attempts from anywhere else.Managed RDP servers
- Latency
- The delay, in milliseconds, for data to travel between a user and a server. Lower latency makes remote desktop sessions feel more responsive.How RDP works
- Managed hosting
- Hosting where the provider looks after the server itself – operating system updates, security patching, firewall, monitoring and backups – so the customer can focus on their applications.Managed hosting explained
- Marg ERP
- Billing, inventory and accounting software popular with pharmacies, distributors and retailers. It runs on Windows and can be hosted on a cloud server for multi-branch access.Marg ERP on Cloud
- Migration
- Moving applications and data from one environment to another – for example from an office PC to a cloud server. For Tally, this means moving company data, TDL files and add-ons.Tally on Cloud migration
- NVMe
- Non-Volatile Memory Express, a storage interface that connects solid-state drives directly over PCIe. NVMe drives are much faster than SATA SSDs for databases and accounting software.Why NVMe is faster
- On-premise cloud
- A private cloud built on hardware at an organisation's own location, giving cloud-style flexibility while keeping data on site.On-premise cloud
- Private cloud
- Cloud infrastructure used by a single organisation, either hosted in a data centre or on its own premises, rather than shared with other customers.Private cloud
- Rack unit (U)
- The standard unit of height for equipment in a server rack: 1U is 1.75 inches (44.45 mm). A full rack is typically 42U.Colocation rack options
- RDS CAL
- Remote Desktop Services Client Access Licence – the Microsoft licence each user or device needs to connect to a Windows server through Remote Desktop Services.RDP server hosting
- Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)
- Microsoft's protocol for using a Windows computer remotely. The server runs the applications and sends screen updates; the user's keyboard and mouse input is sent back.RDP server hosting
- Remote Desktop Services (RDS)
- The Windows Server role that lets multiple users run their own Remote Desktop sessions on one server at the same time – the basis of multi-user Tally on Cloud.Tally on Cloud
- Remote hands
- On-site help in a data centre for physical tasks such as rebooting a server, checking cables or swapping a drive, so colocation customers don't need to travel.Server colocation
- SSL certificate
- A digital certificate that enables HTTPS, encrypting traffic between a website and its visitors and showing the padlock in the browser.Web hosting
- Tally ERP 9
- The previous generation of Tally Solutions' business accounting software, still used by many businesses. It can be hosted on a cloud server in the same way as Tally Prime.Tally on Cloud
- Tally Gold licence
- Tally's multi-user licence, which lets several people work on the same Tally data at the same time across a network – including on a cloud server.Multi-user Tally licensing
- Tally on Cloud
- Running Tally Prime or Tally ERP 9 on a cloud server instead of an office computer, so users connect over Remote Desktop and work on the same live data from anywhere.Tally on Cloud hosting
- Tally Prime
- The current version of Tally Solutions' accounting, inventory and GST software, used by millions of businesses. It runs on Windows.Tally on Cloud
- Tally Virtual User (TVU)
- A Tally Solutions licence entitlement required for users who access TallyPrime through Remote Desktop or other virtual environments, such as a cloud server. It works alongside the multi-user (Gold) licence.Tally on Cloud licensing
- TDL (Tally Definition Language)
- Tally's customisation language. TDL files add reports, fields and features to Tally and must be installed on the server when Tally is hosted in the cloud.Tally on Cloud
- Uptime SLA
- A Service Level Agreement that commits a provider to a minimum availability. 99.9% uptime allows about 43.8 minutes of downtime per month.Our Service Level Agreement
- Unmanaged VPS
- A virtual server where the customer is responsible for the operating system, security patches, firewall and backups. Suited to teams with in-house server expertise.Managed vs unmanaged VPS
- vCPU
- A virtual CPU – a share of a physical processor's cores allocated to a virtual server. Dedicated vCPUs are reserved for one customer rather than shared.Managed Windows VPS
- Virtual Private Server (VPS)
- A virtual machine on a physical server with its own operating system and a reserved share of CPU, RAM and storage, isolated from other customers.Managed Windows VPS
- Web hosting
- A service that stores a website's files and databases on a server connected to the internet so the site is available to visitors.Web hosting