A Clustered Node is a server that is a member or a planned member of a Cluster. There may be one or many nodes in a cluster. Oracle ASM (Automatic Storage Management) is Oracle's integrated storage manager specifically designed for managing database files. It simplifies the storage and management of Oracle database files by abstracting and automating storage management tasks, making it particularly useful in large-scale and high-availability environments like Oracle RAC. Oracle Clusterware is a cluster management software that manages Oracle RAC environments. Its processes maintain node health, enable high availability, and coordinate resource management across the cluster. Together, they ensure Oracle RAC and applications are highly available, resilient, and seamlessly managed in clustered environments.

Each node has local storage. Local storage provides for the OS needs and the Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC software installation. Every clustered node has an instance of Oracle Clusterware running. The node-specific diagnostics and configuration information is stored in the local storage.

A node may have one or more other instances running an Oracle RAC database or an application. It is possible to install the software for these instances on shared storage, but it is recommended that these be installed on local storage to allow rolling upgrades, or relocation. However, using local storage also increases your software maintenance costs, because each Oracle home must be upgraded or patched separately.

Each Node has a network connection to what is called the public network. This network provides the connection applications that use the database or clustered application. Each Node has a private network connection also called the interconnect that provides communication between the nodes of a cluster.