Glossary & Terminology

A reference guide for Node Operators and Cloud Customers. Terms are listed within logical groupings.

Platform & Infrastructure

Edge Node A residential or small-business device - such as a Mac Mini, PC, or compatible server - enrolled in the Evolving Edge network and configured to deliver CDN content, cache data, and compute workloads to nearby end users. Edge nodes are the foundational supply-side resource of the platform. Rather than routing requests to distant data centers, edge nodes serve content from within a neighborhood or metro area, enabling sub-10ms response times. Nodes run the Evolving Edge node agent and participate in job routing via the AI Orchestration Layer.

Regional Node Data center capacity that Evolving Edge operates directly, distinct from the operator-owned devices that make up the Edge Node tier. Regional nodes provide overflow capacity and failover coverage in areas where Edge Node density is still thin, helping the network maintain baseline service levels everywhere while neighborhood-level coverage grows.

Node Agent The lightweight software process installed on an operator’s device that connects it to the Evolving Edge control plane. The node agent reports resource utilization at regular intervals (heartbeat), signs each report with a node-specific cryptographic key to prevent spoofing, and transmits task start and completion events with unique task IDs. The agent also enforces operator-defined resource limits - automatically yielding CPU and memory to the host machine when local applications need them.

Control Plane The centralized orchestration infrastructure that receives reports from node agents, cross-validates them against dispatched job records, flags anomalies, and maintains the authoritative billing ledger. The control plane’s record of what occurred - not the node’s self-report - is the definitive source of truth for billing and payouts.

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) A U.S. Office of Management and Budget designation that defines a major urban core - population 50,000 or more - together with the surrounding counties economically tied to it by commuting patterns and labor market integration. MSA boundaries follow economic activity, not political lines, making them the standard unit for defining regional markets.

On the Evolving Edge network, the MSA is the primary unit for organizing node clusters, routing decisions, supply planning, and performance leaderboards. Every node belongs to an MSA. Because network performance is a function of physical distance, the MSA’s geography-first boundary logic maps directly to how content is routed and how demand is served - making it the right frame for building and measuring a hyperlocal delivery network.

Point of Presence (POP) A named grouping of edge nodes typically based on an ISPs network endpoint in an MSA. POPs are organized by geographic location within an MSA to optimize routing, content distribution, and redundancy. Enterprise customers may have content deployed across multiple MSAs & POPs simultaneously.

Performance & Reliability

Uptime The percentage of time a node is reachable and available to serve workloads within a given billing period, as measured by the control plane’s ability to contact the node - not by the node’s own self-report. Uptime is a core component of the Performance Index and directly affects payout tier eligibility. Nodes that sustain uptime above defined thresholds (e.g., 95% in a billing period) qualify for an availability bonus. Uptime is tracked via continuous heartbeat monitoring and logged in the billing ledger.

Active Node Hours The cumulative time a node has been connected to the network and available to serve work, measured between heartbeats. Hours accrue per node and are never reset. A single missed heartbeat does not interrupt accrual; an extended outage is not credited. Active Node Hours attach to a node’s identity, so a node that re-enrolls with a new machine identity begins again at zero. Used to determine qualification in the Referral Program. See Node Configuration & Preferences for how node identity is derived and what changes it.

Performance Index (PI) A composite score (0-1) used to determine a node’s payout tier within the sliding-scale revenue share model. The PI incorporates five dimensions: processor performance, RAM capacity, GPU capability (where applicable), network latency, and uptime reliability. The score is calculated in real time by an XGBoost model embedded in the AI Orchestration Layer. A higher PI score translates directly to a higher percentage of the revenue generated by that node’s workloads. See this page for details.

Cache Hit Ratio The proportion of end-user content requests from the Content Delivery Network (CDN) that a node is able to serve from its local cache, rather than requiring a fetch from origin. A high cache hit ratio indicates that a node is storing the right content for its geographic area and is meaningfully contributing to delivery performance. Cache hit ratio is a key signal in workload-driven performance scoring and influences payout calculations.

Latency The round-trip time, measured in milliseconds, between a node and a requesting end user or another node in the network. Evolving Edge targets sub-10ms response times for locally served content, compared to 70ms or more for traditional cloud-based CDNs. Latency data is continuously collected and used by the orchestration layer to make routing decisions.

Node Health A real-time assessment of a node’s operational condition, drawn from CPU and RAM utilization, disk I/O and storage health, network interface error rates, uptime logs, and ISP traffic shaping detection. Node health data informs routing decisions, flags hardware degradation before it affects service, and contributes to the operator’s Performance Index score.

Telemetry The continuous stream of operational data reported by the node agent to the control plane. Telemetry includes CPU, RAM, GPU, bandwidth, and latency metrics collected at regular intervals. This data forms the foundation of performance scoring, anomaly detection, and the billing ledger. The telemetry agent is designed to be lightweight and open-source, operating without interfering with the host machine’s primary tasks. No personal information or other data is shared from your computer.

Supply Utilization & Workloads

Node Utilization Rate The percentage of a node’s available compute, bandwidth, and storage capacity that is actively being used to serve platform workloads during a given period. Higher utilization generally correlates with higher earnings, though the platform manages utilization carefully to avoid saturating an operator’s connection or triggering ISP scrutiny. Analogous to an occupancy rate in the Airbnb model - a fully utilized node is a fully earning node.

Referral Program An incentive structure that rewards existing node operators for successfully recruiting new operators to the platform. Referral conversions are tracked from sign-up through active node deployment. The program is designed to drive organic, community-led supply growth and reduce dependence on paid acquisition channels. See Referral Program.

Earnings & Payouts

Revenue Share The percentage of platform revenue attributed to a node’s workloads that is paid to the node operator. Evolving Edge shares a percentage of revenue with node operators on a sliding scale - the exact percentage is determined by the node’s Performance Index score. The remaining percentage is retained by the platform to cover infrastructure and operations. Revenue share is calculated per billing period and disbursed via the payout engine upon request.

Bandwidth Credit The verified measure of data successfully delivered by a node to end users during a billing period, denominated in gigabytes (GB). Bandwidth credits are earned per GB of content served with confirmed end-user receipt - not simply transmitted. This distinction matters: the platform verifies delivery using HTTP response codes (200/206) correlated with end-user IP records and cryptographic timestamps. Bandwidth credits are one of the primary inputs to payout calculations in the CDN workload tier.

Payout Threshold The minimum accumulated earnings required before a disbursement can be requested. Evolving Edge sets a minimum payout threshold below which earnings carry forward to the next billing cycle. This threshold exists to reduce payment processing overhead for micro-earning nodes and to keep transaction costs manageable. Operators whose nodes generate earnings above the threshold receive payment based on the end of each calendar month.

Payout Engine The automated system that translates billing ledger events into operator disbursements. The engine takes each node’s revenue contribution, applies the PI score to determine the applicable payout percentage, and triggers payment eligibility. Payouts are processed through a third-party payment platform that supports ACH direct deposit or Visa and Mastercard debit cards. All transfers are auditable.

Availability Bonus A supplemental earnings premium paid to nodes that maintain uptime above a defined threshold (e.g., 95%) within a billing period. The availability bonus rewards operators whose nodes are consistently reliable and therefore most valuable to enterprise customers with SLA requirements.

Billing Ledger An immutable, append-only log maintained by the control plane that records all billable events. Each entry captures a timestamp, customer ID, node ID, resource type, quantity delivered, task ID, and verification status. The billing ledger is the authoritative record that drives both customer invoicing and operator payouts. Operators cannot alter ledger entries; the control plane’s validated records govern all financial calculations.

Operator Identity & Compliance

Identity Verification The identity verification process is required before an operator can receive payouts. Verification collects identifying information - including legal name, address, and tax documentation - to comply with financial regulations and IRS reporting requirements. Operators in the United States may be required to submit a W-9 (for U.S. persons) depending on earnings thresholds. Completion of identity verification is a prerequisite for automated payout processing.

Operator Profile The complete record associated with a node operator’s account, encompassing identity and payment information, physical location and ISP details, hardware and software specifications, and operational preferences. The operator profile powers accurate latency and capacity routing, automated compliant payouts, regulatory compliance, and growth analytics including referral tracking.

Tax Information Documentation collected at registration to enable compliant earnings disbursements. Operators earning above IRS reporting thresholds will receive a 1099-NEC annually. Accurate tax information ensures uninterrupted payouts and protects operators from compliance issues. This is stored and managed separately from performance data.

Fraud Prevention & Integrity

Anomaly Detection The automated system that monitors node reports for signs of fraudulent or manipulated behavior. Key signals include inflated bandwidth claims inconsistent with regional CDN delivery logs, task completion reports for jobs the orchestration layer never dispatched (“ghost jobs”), self-directed traffic to inflate payout (“bandwidth laundering”), and heartbeat signals from nodes that are not actually serving workloads (“uptime spoofing”). Nodes that trigger anomaly flags are subject to review and may have earnings withheld pending investigation.

Challenge-Response Verification A fraud mitigation technique in which the control plane issues unpredictable verification challenges to node agents and requires cryptographically valid responses to confirm that a node is genuinely online and serving workloads - not merely simulating activity to collect heartbeat-based earnings.

Performance-Usage Correlation A behavioral integrity check that cross-references a node’s benchmark score against its actual real-world cache hit ratio and workload completion rate. A node with a high benchmark score but consistently low real-world contribution is flagged as a candidate for gaming or artificial score inflation.

This glossary will be updated as the platform evolves. For questions not addressed here, visit Node Support if you’re a Node Operator, or Customer Support if you’re a Cloud Customer.