# Explanation The explanatory guides in this section discuss the concepts used in LXD and help you understand how things fit together. ## Important concepts LXD’s core concepts include its relationship with LXC and the instance types it supports: system containers and virtual machines. * [`lxd` and `lxc`](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/lxd_lxc/index.html.md) * [Containers and VMs](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/instances/index.html.md) ## Entities in LXD LXD uses several distinct entity types, including images, storage pools, networks, and projects. To learn how to use them, refer to the [How-to guides](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/howto/index.html.md#howtos). * [Local and remote images](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/image-handling/index.html.md) * [Storage pools, volumes, and buckets](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/storage/index.html.md) * [Networking setups](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/networks/index.html.md) * [The LXD Dqlite database](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/database/index.html.md) * [`lxc` `show` and `info`](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/lxc_show_info/index.html.md) ## Access management LXD supports multiple methods for authenticating remote API clients and provides fine-grained authorization controls. Projects can also be used to scope and restrict access. * [Remote API authentication](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/authentication/index.html.md) * [Remote API authorization](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/authorization/index.html.md) * [Instances grouping with projects](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/projects/index.html.md) ## Production setup For scalable, reliable, and secure LXD deployments, these guides help you understand the key concepts around clustering, performance tuning, and security. * [Clusters](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/clusters/index.html.md) * [Disaster recovery](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/disaster_recovery/index.html.md) * [Performance tuning](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/performance_tuning/index.html.md) * [Security](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/security/index.html.md) * [Privilege delegation using BPF Token](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/bpf/index.html.md) ## The LXD CSI driver The LXD CSI driver is an open source implementation of the Container Storage Interface (CSI) that integrates LXD storage backends with Kubernetes. * [The LXD CSI driver](https://canonical.com/lxd/docs/latest/explanation/csi/index.html.md)