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 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? and What is a node on the older Xen hypervisor? in the FAQ for what those are.