Managed and unmanaged nodes

A node is a logical grouping of managed servers.

A node usually corresponds to a logical or physical computer system with a distinct IP host address. Nodes cannot span multiple computers.

By default, node names are based on the host name of the computer, for example MyHostNode01.

The node name for the default profile that is created during product installation is the short host name of the server. When you create a new profile that is not a deployment manager profile, the node name defaults to hostName_profileName.

Nodes can be managed or unmanaged. An unmanaged node does not have a node agent or administrative agent to manage its servers, whereas a managed node does. Both application servers and supported web servers can be on unmanaged or managed nodes.

A stand-alone application server is an unmanaged node. The application server node becomes a managed node when it is either federated into a cell or registered with an administrative agent.

When you create a managed node by federating the application server node into a deployment manager cell, a node agent is automatically created. The node agent process manages the application server configurations and servers on the node.

When you create a managed node by registering an application server node with an administrative agent, the application server must be an unfederated application server node. The administrative agent is a single interface that monitors and controls one or more application server nodes so that you can use the application servers only to run your applications. Using a single interface reduces the overhead of running administrative services in every application server.

A managed node in a cell can have WebSphere® Application Server, Java™ Message Service (JMS) servers (on Version 5 nodes only), web servers, or generic servers. A managed node that is not in a cell, but is instead registered to an administrative agent, can have application servers, web servers, and generic servers on the node.

An unmanaged node can exist in a cell as long as the unmanaged node only has a supported web server defined on it. Unsupported Web servers can be on unmanaged nodes only and cannot be in a cell.

You can use the command line only to create a managed node that is registered to an administrative agent.

On the z/OS® system, the default DefaultNodeGroup node group is the sysplex node group for the deployment manager node and any other node in the cell from the same sysplex. A z/OS system node from a different sysplex cannot be a member of this node group and must be a member of a sysplex node group for its sysplex.

Whether you specify an explicit node group for a cell or accept the default, the node group membership rules must be satisfied. If the node that you are adding does not satisfy the node group membership rules for the target node group, the add node operation fails with an error message.

Each managed node that is joined to a cell must be a member of a node group. However, a managed node that is registered to an administrative agent cannot be a member of a node group.

The concepts of managed and unmanaged nodes are not applied to the registration of nodes to the job manager.