Terminology

Role	Description
Client	A program or application that initiates requests to a server. In the context of nexrender, a client can be an After Effects user who submits a render job request to the nexrender server.
Server	A computer or software program that responds to requests from clients. In the context of nexrender, the server receives render job requests from clients and manages the rendering process by distributing tasks to workers.
Worker	A computer or software program that performs tasks assigned by the server. In the context of nexrender, a worker is responsible for rendering a specific task in a job, such as rendering a particular composition or output file. Multiple workers can be assigned to a single job to complete the rendering process faster.
Node
API	An interface that allows software applications to communicate with each other. In the context of nexrender, the API is a set of programming interfaces that allow developers to interact with the nexrender server programmatically, for example, by submitting jobs or retrieving render job status.
AWS EC2	Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is a web service that provides resizable computing capacity in the cloud. It is designed to make web-scale cloud computing easier for developers. With Amazon EC2, you can obtain and configure capacity with minimal friction. You can use it to deploy and run virtual servers in the cloud, allowing you to quickly scale capacity up or down according to your computing needs. Amazon EC2 is one of the core services of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and it can be used to run a variety of workloads, including web applications, big data processing, and machine learning.
EC2 Instance	Virtual server in Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) that runs an operating system and applications. It is essentially a virtual machine that is hosted in the cloud, providing computing resources on demand. You can think of it as a remote computer that you can access and control over the internet. Each EC2 instance is essentially a separate computing environment, with its own set of allocated resources, such as CPU, memory, storage, and networking. When you launch an EC2 instance, you can choose the instance type that best fits your needs based on the required amount of resources and performance.
Virtual machine	A virtual machine is a software-based emulation of a physical machine that runs on top of a host operating system. It allows multiple virtual machines to be created on a single physical machine, each with its own operating system, applications, and virtualized hardware resources such as CPUs, RAM, and storage. Virtual machines are typically used for server virtualization, where they allow multiple applications or services to be run on a single physical server, improving hardware utilization and reducing costs. They are also used for software development and testing, providing developers with a sandboxed environment to test their applications without affecting the production system.
Virtual Desktop	A virtual desktop, on the other hand, is a user interface that runs on top of a virtual machine or a physical desktop. It allows users to access a virtualized desktop environment over a network, enabling them to run applications and access resources as if they were using a physical desktop.
Environment	In general, an environment is a collection of hardware and software resources that work together to support a specific application or set of applications. This can include everything from the operating system and middleware to the hardware components like processors, memory, and storage. It can refer to either a virtual machine or a virtual desktop, as well as to a physical computer or server.