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Merge pull request #651 from bigchaindb/update-introduction-in-docs

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This is the documentation for BigchainDB Server, the BigchainDB software that one runs on servers (but not on clients).
BigchainDB is a scalable blockchain database. That is, it's a "big data" database with some blockchain characteristics, including [decentralization](topic-guides/decentralized.html), [immutability](topic-guides/immutable.html) and [native support for assets](topic-guides/assets.html).
If you want to use BigchainDB Server, then you should first understand what BigchainDB is, plus some of the specialized BigchaindB terminology. You can read about that in [the overall BigchainDB project documentation](https://bigchaindb.readthedocs.io/en/latest/introduction.html).
You can read about the motivations, goals and high-level architecture in the [BigchainDB whitepaper](https://www.bigchaindb.com/whitepaper/).
## Is BigchainDB Production-Ready?
No, BigchainDB is not production-ready. You can use it to build a prototype or proof-of-concept (POC); many people are already doing that.
BigchainDB is currently in version 0.X. ([The Releases page on GitHub](https://github.com/bigchaindb/bigchaindb/releases) has the exact version number.) Once we believe that BigchainDB is production-ready, we'll release version 1.0.
[The BigchainDB Roadmap](https://github.com/bigchaindb/org/blob/master/ROADMAP.md) will give you a sense of the things we intend to do with BigchainDB in the near term and the long term.
## Some Basic Vocabulary
There is some specialized vocabulary associated with BigchainDB. To get started, you should at least know what what we mean by a BigchainDB *node*, *cluster* and *federation*.
A **BigchainDB node** is a machine or set of closely-linked machines running RethinkDB Server, BigchainDB Server, and related software. (A "machine" might be a bare-metal server, a virtual machine or a container.) Each node is controlled by one person or organization.
A set of BigchainDB nodes can connect to each other to form a **cluster**. Each node in the cluster runs the same software. A cluster contains one logical RethinkDB datastore. A cluster may have additional machines to do things such as cluster monitoring.
The people and organizations that run the nodes in a cluster belong to a **federation** (i.e. another organization). A federation must have some sort of governance structure to make decisions. If a cluster is run by a single company, then the federation is just that company.
**What's the Difference Between a Cluster and a Federation?**
A cluster is just a bunch of connected nodes. A federation is an organization which has a cluster, and where each node in the cluster has a different operator. Confusingly, we sometimes call a federation's cluster its "federation." You can probably tell what we mean from context.
There are several kinds of nodes:
Note that there are a few kinds of nodes:
- A **dev/test node** is a node created by a developer working on BigchainDB Server, e.g. for testing new or changed code. A dev/test node is typically run on the developer's local machine.