DigitalOcean Droplets are Linux-based virtual machines (VMs) that run on top of virtualized hardware. Each Droplet you create is a new server you can use, either standalone or as part of a larger, cloud-based infrastructure.
We support the following Linux distributions:
| Ubuntu | Debian | CentOS | AlmaLinux | Rocky Linux | Fedora |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24.04 (LTS) x64 23.10 x64 22.04 (LTS) x64 20.04 (LTS) x64 |
12.0 x64 11.0 x64 10.3 x64 |
9 Stream x64 8 Stream x64 |
8.6 9 |
8 x64 9 x64 |
39 x64 40 x64 |
Tags are custom labels you apply to Droplets that have multiple uses:
Filtering. Tagging multiple Droplets with the same label lets you organize your resources and view a filtered list of Droplets that share that particular tag.
Automatic inclusion in firewall rules and load balancer backend pools. Automatically include Droplets in a firewall or load balancer configuration by tag, minimizing administration overhead when adding new Droplets to your infrastructure.
API call execution on multiple Droplets at once. Initiate an action across all Droplets with the same tag using the DigitalOcean API. Identifying groups of Droplets and administering all of them at once reduces the time required to manage resources.
DigitalOcean Reserved IPs are publicly-accessible static IP addresses that you can assign to Droplets. A reserved IP provides an additional static address you can use to access a Droplet without replacing or changing the Droplet’s original public IP address.
DigitalOcean Volumes Block Storage is a flexible, convenient way of managing additional storage (in units called volumes) for your Droplets. Volumes are independent resources that you can move between Droplets within the same region. You can increase the size of a volume without powering down the Droplet it’s attached to. They’re most useful when you need more storage space but don’t need the additional processing power or memory that a larger Droplet would provide.
DigitalOcean Cloud Firewalls are a free, network-based, stateful firewall service for your DigitalOcean Droplets. They block all traffic that isn’t expressly permitted by a rule. You can define the Droplets protected by a firewall individually or by using tags.
DigitalOcean Load Balancers are a fully-managed, highly available load balancing service. Load balancers distribute traffic to groups of Droplets, which decouples the overall health of a backend service from the health of a single server to ensure that your services stay online.