> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex-xsoar-8-on-prem/8.13/learn-about-cortex-xsoar/cortex-xsoar-architecture.md).

# Cortex XSOAR architecture

Explore the architecture of Cortex XSOAR 8.13 On-prem.

The following diagram describes the high-level architecture for Cortex XSOAR:

Cortex XSOAR installation is implemented by your IT team or Cortex XSOAR administrators. Cortex XSOAR uses the following:

![](https://3790991131-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FvksWgzvBZ9ZvAg4dGLrH%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-bddfb199d89d878ef1c65f8b383c02dd6605f5e5%2Fd3109e10e592bd7c7bb2d268caefcdc744144967bf8a25ccccbfdeaa749c25aa.png?alt=media)

* Relational store using MySQL
* Cache and synchronization using Redis
* Data warehousing using Elasticsearch

Cortex XSOAR is provided as a Kubernetes cluster, a set of nodes (VMs) that run containerized applications that package Cortex XSOAR, its dependencies, and some necessary services. You can decide how many nodes/VMs to include in the cluster when running the Administrative tool. You can decide between a standalone environment (one node) or a multi-node cluster (three nodes).

Playbooks are executed on dedicated, isolated workers, and workloads do not share compute resources.


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