# Getting started

## Get started with Network Optix and the Nx AI Manager plugin

A basic Nx platform comprises of one or more Nx Meta servers administered through an Nx client, this platform can either be a set of Nx Witness, Nx Go or Nx Meta servers and the corresponding client.

The Nx AI Manager Plugin is a tool that enables you to create and manage large-scale Edge AI solutions using the [Network Optix toolkit](https://www.networkoptix.com/developers/nx-toolkit). With this plugin, you can turn any compatible edge device, like a router, gateway, or IPC, into a "smart" device that can run advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) models on input data. Using AI and ML models, you can analyze a video stream and gain valuable insights, such as counting the number of cars passing by in the video stream.

## Often used terms

Here, we provide a short list of terms that pop up repeatedly in these docs and are good to know:

* **The Nx AI Manager:** The Nx AI Manager is the name for the package of components that is the Plugin, Runtime and Cloud.
* **The Nx AI Manager Plugin**: Nx AI Manager Plugin is the plugin for Nx Meta, or another Powered-By-Nx product, that runs on an edge device, enabling you to configure your edge AI solution. 
* **The Nx AI Runtime**: The Nx AI Runtime is the library component of the Nx AI Manager responsible for running AI models on AI accelerators. \
  It is controlled by the Nx AI Manager Plugin within Nx Meta and in turn manages the AI accelerator library and the downloaded models.
* **The Nx AI Cloud:** The Nx cloud environment (found at <https://admin.sclbl.nxvms.com/>) allows you to&#x20;
  1. manage your devices and AI models and&#x20;
  2. add your models to your personal AI model collections.&#x20;
* **The Network Optix Toolkit**: All development tools, libraries, applications, and utilities that enable integration with Network Optix in your own application are available, including the Nx AI Manager Plugin and the [Nx Meta API](https://meta.nxvms.com/doc/developers/api-tool/main).
* **EVOS**: Network Optix's Enterprise Video Operating System, which includes all of Network Optix's open tools, enables developers to manage numerous video streams across multiple locations, deploy on-site AI models (at the edge), visualize videos, establish business rules, and deliver meaningful applications to end users.
* **Nx Meta:** The version of EVOS that is mostly used for development with the Nx AI Manager, it consists of one or more server installations and a client to manage those servers. Nx Witness and Nx Go can also be used instead.
* **An AI/ML model:** We use this term somewhat loosely for any model definition that describes the transformation of input (streams of images) to output (bounding boxes, license plate, "OK"/"NG" etc.). This model can be a Deep Neural Network (AI), a simple classification model (ML), or a traditional Vision pipeline. Ultimately, the logic running on the device does the "magic".&#x20;
* **Edge device:** We loosely refer to any device (camera, gateway, IPC, etc.) that runs the Nx AI manager.&#x20;

{% @mermaid/diagram content="flowchart LR
subgraph Nx Meta / Witness / Go
subgraph A\[Nx AI Manager Plugin]
B\[Nx AI Runtime]
D\[AI Accelerator]
C\[AI/ML Model]
B-->D
B-->C
D<-->C
end
end

" %}

## Get started with the Nx AI Manager plugin

To get started with Nx and the Nx AI Manager plugin, follow the steps outlined below:

{% content-ref url="/pages/ZuSvvX87sZbTNZmX2lFG" %}
[Install Network Optix](/nx-ai-manager/install-network-optix.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/iFRdkGmk2C4WNa5SV9PF" %}
[Starting the Nx AI Manager Plugin](/nx-ai-manager/install-plugin.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/6EEE07YOwLbczVzy2LX3" %}
[Configure the Nx AI Manager Plugin](/nx-ai-manager/configure-the-plugin.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/Quc1TjRlMVonDT3GtbE1" %}
[Plugin Settings](/nx-ai-manager/install-plugin/plugin-settings.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/kYml6bG4tXeQarcJgaSQ" %}
[Advanced configuration](/nx-ai-manager/advanced-configuration.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

And because it's sometimes necessary:

{% content-ref url="/pages/qDZwbJbgQKfjDu2FwxZ3" %}
[System requirements](/nx-ai-manager/getting-started/system-requirements.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/j7zFBVM5eY0h36HLMBVn" %}
[Troubleshooting](/support-and-troubleshooting/troubleshooting.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}


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