# Provision a node

Provisioning a node means creating one in the [platform](https://preview.docs.tenzir.com/375/375/explanations/platform.md) in your workspace. After provisioning, you can download configuration file with an authentication token—ready to then deploy the node.

When you start out with a new Tenzir account, you have an empty workspace without any nodes:

![Landing page](/375/_astro/new-account.Qul5lKOD_2ccC1i.png)

You have two options: either provision a self-hosted node or play with a cloud-hosted demo with a lifetime of 2 hours.

## Cloud-hosted Demo Node

Provision a cloud-hosted demo node by following these steps:

1. Click **Cloud-hosted demo-node**.
2. Click **Add node**.
3. Click **Get Started**.

🙌 You’re good to go. It takes up to 2 minutes for your node to be usable. Upon provisioning, the documentation pops in automatically so that you can familiarize yourself with key concepts in the meantime.

## Self-hosted Node

Provision a self-hosted node by following these steps:

1. Click **Self-hosted node**.
2. Click **Add node**.
3. Enter a name for your node.
4. Click **Add node**.

🚢 Your node is ready to be [deployed](https://preview.docs.tenzir.com/375/375/guides/node-setup/deploy-a-node.md). The easiest way to continue is by spinning up a node with [Docker](https://preview.docs.tenzir.com/375/375/guides/node-setup/deploy-a-node.md#docker).

Ephemeral Nodes

Instead of provisioning a node as a above, with a dedicated authentication token, you can also [configure a workspace-wide token](https://preview.docs.tenzir.com/375/375/guides/platform-management/use-ephemeral-nodes.md). Nodes that use this token are *ephemeral*, i.e., not explicitly managed by the platform and will vanish once they disconnect.