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An Ethereum Node is a device/program that communicates with the Ethereum network. Nodes are also known as clients. Software that can act as an Ethereum node includes Parity and Go-ethereum (geth). This software mostly, if not always, also provides wallet functionality (software that allows users to perform transactions on the blockchain). Some node software also allows other programs to indirectly interact with the blockchain; this is provided through some Remote Procedure Call (RPC) facility. RPC is usually implemented in the form of web APIs (Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or Hypertext Transport Protocol Secure (HTTPS) ) or UNIX Domain Socket (Socket).

Source: https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/5975/what-are-the-types-of-nodes-in-ethereum