Key Concepts
This page introduces the fundamental concepts of Fransys. Understanding these terms will help you navigate the platform and the rest of the documentation without ambiguity.
Project
A project is the main unit of work in Fransys. It groups all the blocks that make up your infrastructure — applications, databases, services — and deploys to a cluster.
Each project has its own canvas, its own state (online / offline), and can be associated with an independent cluster.
Analogy: A project is the equivalent of a complete application environment — for example, your production application with its API, database, and cache.
→ Learn more: Projects
Block
A block is an infrastructure component that you add to your project. It represents a deployable service — an application, a database, or an auxiliary service.
Available blocks are organized by category:
- Application — Laravel, React, Angular, Vue.js, Docker
- Database — MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Redis
- Socket — Soketi (WebSocket)
- Standalone — Custom Docker containers for any other need
Each block has its own configuration (resources, environment variables, connections) and can be connected to other blocks in the same project.
Analogy: A block is a Lego brick. You assemble the bricks you need to build your infrastructure.
→ Learn more: Block System
Canvas
The canvas is the visual workspace of a project. It's the central area of the interface where you drag and drop your blocks from the sidebar to design your infrastructure.
The canvas gives you an overview of your architecture: which blocks are present, how they are connected, and what their state is.
Analogy: The canvas is your architect's blueprint — a schematic view of your complete infrastructure.
Cluster
A cluster is the physical infrastructure on which your project is deployed. In Fransys, a cluster is composed of node pools, each node having a defined amount of CPU and RAM.
To create a cluster, you choose:
- A provider (Hetzner, Scaleway, OVH)
- A region (country / datacenter)
- The node composition (CPU, RAM per node, number of nodes)
A cluster can host one or more projects. Fransys automatically manages the underlying Kubernetes orchestration — you only interact with the configuration layer.
→ Learn more: Clusters
Provider
A provider is the cloud provider on which Fransys provisions your clusters. Fransys connects exclusively to European providers:
- Hetzner — Germany, Finland
- Scaleway — France (Paris)
- OVH — France, Germany, and other EU regions
The choice of provider determines the physical location of your data, the available machine options, and the cost of resources.
→ Learn more: Providers
Deployment
A deployment is the action of publishing your project to its cluster. When you click Deploy, Fransys:
- Builds the Docker images of your application blocks (via the built-in CI/CD)
- Configures the Kubernetes cluster
- Deploys all your blocks
- Automatically rolls back if a deployment fails
Deployments are queued: if you make several successive changes, they are stacked and executed in order.
→ Learn more: CI/CD
Credits
Fransys operates on a credit system in euros. You load credits onto your account, and they are deducted based on the resources consumed by your clusters (CPU, RAM, storage, IPs, load balancers).
Each resource has a transparent unit cost that is displayed. You only pay for what you use — no fixed subscription tied to a tier or plan.
Upon account creation, €5 in credits are offered without a credit card, allowing you to test the platform.
Autopilot
Autopilot is Fransys's automatic scaling mode. Once activated, your cluster adapts its resources in real time based on load:
- Scale up — Adding resources when demand increases
- Scale down — Reducing resources when load decreases
Autopilot relies on a set of rules and Fransys's autoscaling system to adjust cluster capacity without manual intervention.
→ Learn more: Scaling and Autopilot