Communication between realms can occur in various configurations:

The communication between realms can be secure (encrypted) or non-secure (non-encrypted). The communication is implemented by defining one or more interfaces on each realm. The required setup of the interfaces is the same, regardless of which of the above configurations you use for the communication between realms. For example, the attribute Allow for InterRealm must be activated on the interface that you use, otherwise the communication between realms is not possible.

The following description uses some examples from working with a cluster, but the principles apply to all configurations.

Since all realms in a cluster are required to have the same configuration (so that for example if the master realm goes offline, one of the other realms can become the new master), you must ensure that any interface definitions on one realm match the interface definitions on all other realms in the cluster.

For non-encrypted inter-realm communication, you can set up the interfaces to use either NSP (Socket Protocol) or NHP (HTTP Protocol). In general, we recommend you to use NSP rather than NHP for non-encrypted inter-realm communication.

For encrypted inter-realm communication, you can set up the interfaces to use either NSPS (Secure Socket Protocol) or NHPS (Secure HTTP Protocol). In general, we recommend you to use NSPS rather than NHPS for encrypted inter-realm communication.

Information about using the Enterprise Manager to manage a cluster is contained in the section Cluster Administration. Information about using the Enterprise Manager to manage realm interfaces is contained in the section Administering TCP Interfaces, IP Multicast, and Shared Memory. Managing zones is described in the section Zone Administration. Setting up an inter-cluster connection is described in the section Interconnecting Two Clusters, and conceptual details are provided in the section Data Routing using Channel Joins in the Concepts Guide.