Edge node
Lives at the site. Ingests cameras. Writes continuous record to local storage. Applies the licensed retention tier. Exposes admin at https://node:8443. Holds the Node ID used for licensing.
Cloud orchestrator
Relays playback to operators. Does not replace the node as the system of record. Talks to nodes with TLS and mTLS on port 443.
What this is not
Not a central NVR that ingests every camera into a vendor cloud. Not VDI. Not a consumer doorbell service.
Next: security model.