Nuvolos basic concepts

Most of the user work in Nuvolos happens in confined single- or multi-user environments called spaces. When you think about a Nuvolos space, you can think about it as just a project. A space is a collection of work environments which in turn contain the files (code and data) and applications related to the specific project.

Spaces are a collection of instances. Instances are the work environments in which workflows are being executed. In particular, any project might comprise of multiple people working on a related subject (in one space), however working independently (in separate instances), occasionally sharing their results (via Nuvolos solutions that facilitate sharing work on a space level). Instances are a way to maintain parallel versions (branches) of related material. In a single-user setup, a space will generally contain just one main instance - called the master instance.

Instances are comprised of states. The current state is the only mutable state of the instance. The state of a particular instance can be captured in a snapshot for versioning. Snapshot states are immutable and are Nuvolos' way of storing a safe version of an instance. States may include any or all of files, database tables and applications, depending on the use case. Files and snapshots can in turn be distributed to others within the Nuvolos platform.

Spaces are themselves contained in organisations. An organisation is a collection of spaces and serves essentially as an administrative unit, a cost center and a strong licensing barrier. For example, a summer school might be a separate organisation: each class would be set up as a separate space, with common administration that operates on the organisation level.

A more detailed explanation of these concepts can be found in the concept descriptions found below this page.