Using clusters for workload management

By defining multiple instances of a queue on different queue managers in a cluster you can spread the work of servicing the queue over multiple servers. There are several factors that can prevent messages being requeued to a different queue manager in the event of failure.

As well as setting up clusters to reduce system administration, you can create clusters in which more than one queue manager hosts an instance of the same queue.

You can organize your cluster such that the queue managers in it are clones of each other. Each queue manager is able to run the same applications and have local definitions of the same queues. You can spread the workload between your queue managers by having several instances of an application. Each instance of the application receives messages and runs independently of each other.

Any one of the queue managers that hosts an instance of a particular queue can handle messages destined for that queue. Applications do not name a queue manager when sending messages. A workload management algorithm determines which queue manager handles the message.

See the following subtopics for more information about cluster configurations for workload management: