A node is the logical representation of a machine in a domain. When you install the Informatica domain services for the first time, you designate a machine as the master gateway node where you create the Informatica domain. If you decide to install the Informatica domain services on multiple machines, you can designate the additional machines as gateway nodes or worker nodes that you join to the domain. One of the nodes in the domain connects to the domain configuration repository database, a relational database that stores configuration and user information for the domain.

A domain also includes application services. An application service represents server-based functionality that supports the features in your Data Engineering product.