> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hivenet.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Glossary

> A quick reference to terms used across Hivenet’s docs. Short, plain‑English definitions. Alphabetical.

*Last updated: 17 September 2025*

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  Use your browser’s find (Ctrl/Cmd + F) to jump to a term.
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## A

**auto top‑up** — An optional setting that adds prepaid credits when your balance drops below a threshold.

## B

**benchmark** — A measurement that compares performance (e.g., tokens/sec for inference or throughput on GPUs).

**billing (per‑second)** — Compute with Hivenet charges while an instance is running, calculated per second.

## C

**Compute with Hivenet** — Hivenet’s compute platform for running workloads on GPUs/CPUs.

**Compute account (Hivenet)** — A separate account used only for Compute with Hivenet. Has its own balance and billing, even if you already have a general Hivenet account.

**concurrency (inference)** — How many requests your server can handle at the same time.

**context length** — The maximum number of tokens a model accepts in one request (prompt + response window).

**credits (prepaid)** — Funds you add in advance and spend across Hivenet services.

**custom template** — Your saved instance configuration (image, packages, ports, env) you can reuse.

## D

**delete account** — Permanently removes your Compute account and associated data after a grace period. Not the same as terminating an instance.

**distributed cloud** — Hivenet’s model that uses underutilized devices (not central data centers) to provide storage and compute.

## E

**egress** — Data that leaves Hivenet to the internet (downloads, API responses). May be subject to limits or fees depending on the feature.

**endpoint (HTTPS)** — The public URL where your running service (e.g., vLLM) is reachable over TLS.

**encryption at rest / in transit** — Protecting data stored on devices (at rest) and moving across networks (in transit).

## G

**GPU instance** — A container or a virtual machine with a dedicated GPU for your workload.

**GPU memory (VRAM)** — Memory on the GPU used to hold model weights, activations, and KV cache.

## H

**HTTPS** — Encrypted HTTP. All public endpoints on Compute are served over HTTPS by default.

**Hivenet ID** — The email you use to sign in. Also your owner identity for teams and access.

## I

**image (OS / container)** — The base software environment an instance boots with (e.g., Ubuntu, a CUDA image, or a vLLM template).

**inference (LLM)** — Running a trained model to generate outputs. On Compute, you can run a vLLM server.

**instance** — A running container or virtual machine on Compute. Billed while running; can be stopped or terminated.

**instance logs** — Console/application logs you can view or export for debugging or support.

**instance template** — A saved recipe for new instances (image, ports, startup commands, etc.). See **custom template**.

## K

**KV cache** — Key‑value cache used by LLM servers to speed up generation by reusing attention states.

## M

**memory fraction (vLLM)** — How much of the GPU VRAM the server is allowed to use.

**model (LLM)** — The neural network you run for inference, defined by name and weights.

## N

**network ports** — You can expose TCP/UDP ports on an instance. Limits apply. See instance networking.

## O

**on-demand instances** — Standard pricing. Start and stop whenever you need.

**organization (team)** — A shared workspace in Hivenet for multiple members, with separate billing and permissions.

## P

**prepaid credits** — See **credits**. Add funds in advance to control spend and enable features like auto top‑up.

**private key / public key (SSH)** — Credentials you use to securely connect to a running instance.

## Q

**quantization** — Techniques to reduce model precision (e.g., INT8/FP8) to fit in VRAM and improve throughput.

## R

**RAM (system memory)** — Memory on the instance’s CPU side. Separate from GPU VRAM.

**rate limits (API)** — Caps on how often you can call an endpoint within a window.

## S

**SSH** — Secure Shell. Use it to access your instance’s terminal.

**stop / start (instances)** — Stop pauses your instance and billing for compute; start brings it back. Data on the instance disk stays unless you terminate.

**storage (instance)** — Local disk on the instance for your OS, packages, and temporary data. Not the same as Store.

## T

**temperature (LLM)** — Controls randomness of generated text. Higher values produce more diverse outputs.

**terminate (instance)** — Permanently ends an instance and erases its local storage. Different from **stop**.

**top‑k / top‑p (LLM)** — Decoding settings that limit the token selection space during generation.

## U

**UDP / TCP** — Transport protocols. TCP is connection‑oriented (APIs). UDP is connectionless (some services/tools).

**usage (billing)** — Your historical spend and activity for Store, Compute, and Send.

## V

**vCPU** — Virtual CPU cores available to your instance.

**vLLM** — An open‑source LLM serving engine optimized for throughput and memory efficiency.

**VRAM** — See **GPU memory**.

## W

**web console** — The browser UI for managing Hivenet services, billing, and settings.

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