[don_draper]

A node server that I run on my server accesses Firebase through the SDK, right?

[gsoltis]

Correct. There's a quickstart guide for using the Node SDK here: https://www.firebase.com/docs/nodejs-quickstart.html

You can also use the REST API (https://www.firebase.com/docs/rest-api-quickstart.html) to interact with Firebase from any platform.