---
title: "Node"
description: "A node is the virtual machine you create and manage in MyAccount, different from TIR's own machines."
content_type: "concept"
product: "node"
platform: "MyAccount"
url: "/myaccount/node/concepts/what-is-a-node/"
---

# Node

A node is a virtual machine: your own operating system, CPU, RAM, and storage, running on
E2E's cloud, reachable over SSH or RDP. You will also hear it called a VM, an instance, or a
cloud server. MyAccount calls it a node, so that is what we call it here too.

Because a node gives you the whole machine, you get root or administrator access. You decide what
runs on it: install your own software, apply your own updates, and open whatever ports your
application needs. Unlike a managed database or storage service, the node is yours to run. That
control is the trade for doing the setup yourself.

You create a node from **Compute > Nodes** in MyAccount by choosing an operating system and a
plan. The plan belongs to a family sized for a particular workload, the job or service the
node runs. Families range from a low-cost test box to a memory-heavy database server; see
[Node families](/myaccount/node/concepts/node-families/) if you are not sure which one fits. From then on, you manage its power state,
storage, network, backups, and security from the same place.

TIR, E2E's separate AI platform, has its own machines: a TIR Instance and a TIR VM, both
different from a node. If you are setting up an AI workload, decide between a node and one of
TIR's machines before you start.

## Where you manage a node

Your nodes are listed under **Compute > Nodes**. From there you create new ones. Open any
existing node to change its plan, network, storage, backups, or security settings. Everything
about a node is grouped into tabs on its own page, so a change you want to make always has one
place to go.

Two kinds of node work a little differently from the rest: nodes on the older Xen hypervisor,
and spot and FortiGate firewall nodes. Some newer features are not offered on them. See
[What are spot nodes and FortiGate firewall nodes?](/myaccount/node/faq/#what-are-spot-nodes-and-fortigate-firewall-nodes)
and [What is a node on the older Xen hypervisor?](/myaccount/node/faq/#what-is-a-node-on-the-older-xen-hypervisor)
in the FAQ for what those are.