...
The Manager: it is the server computer that distributes the jobs between the available render nodes. It also merges the images in a cooperative render.
The Monitor: interface where you add jobs, assign jobs to nodes, stop a network render, display info about the current job and show a merged preview of a network render in progress.
The Render Nodes: the slave computers that actually render the frames.
You can choose to start the Manager, the Monitor or a Render Node on a computer by clicking on the appropriate shortcut (mx_manager, mx_node, mx_monitor). Please note that a computer that runs the Manager and/or the Monitor can also be used as a Render Node at the same time. The Maxwell network can render across a mixed network of computers running Windows, Mac, and Linux.
...