// Module included in the following assemblies:
// * service_mesh/v2x/ossm-create-smcp.adoc

:_mod-docs-content-type: CONCEPT
[id="ossm-about-control-plane-components-and-infrastructure-nodes_{context}"]
= About control plane components and infrastructure nodes

Infrastructure nodes provide a way to isolate infrastructure workloads for two primary purposes:

* To prevent incurring billing costs against subscription counts
* To separate maintenance and management of infrastructure workloads

You can configure some or all of the {SMProductShortName} control plane components to run on infrastructure nodes.
