Map configurations are made up of maps and settings. Maps, in turn, are made up of layers.
The term 'table' refers to a dataset containing geographic information and attribute data. For Stratus the data for each table resides in MapInfo TAB files which are uploaded into Stratus.
The term 'layer' refers to the visual display of a table on a map. One or more layers can be grouped together to form maps. The style of the data on the map and other visual settings can be applied in the layer. For Stratus this is done in MapInfo Professional and the settings form part of the map that is uploaded.
The term 'map' is short for map definition. A map is a group of one or more layers containing geographical information. It is similar to a Geoset or Workspace that can be displayed in MapInfo Professional.
As soon as you have saved maps from the MapInfo Stratus Uploader, the definition for the map and the tables it uses are uploaded into Stratus. From that point onwards, they are available as maps when you choose to add a map to a map configuration, or as tables when you choose to add a table to a find nearest configuration.
A map configuration defines what maps are to be displayed, and what settings will be used to display them. The default map configuration specifies the settings for the map that will be used when MapInfo Stratus starts up. Every new map configuration is populated with settings derived from the default map configuration.