A server cluster is a set of servers that are managed together and participate in workload management. Administrators can create and configure server clusters in an existing server and bus environment.
If you want to balance workload, such as service requests, over a set of servers, you can create a server cluster, then add servers as members of that cluster. You can also create a backup cluster, to provide failover support for the server cluster that it is assigned to.
To assist you in understanding how to configure and use clusters for workload management, consider this scenario. Client requests are distributed among the cluster members on a single machine. (A client refers to any service requester, servlet, Java application, or other program or component that connects the end user with a server.) In more complex workload management scenarios, you can distribute cluster members to remote machines.
For more information about managing server clusters, see the following sub-topics, which provide information related to using server clusters with WebSphere ESB and provide links to appropriate WebSphere Application Server topics: