Brokers can be linked to form units known as territories. Brokers that form a territory function as a single logical Broker. Clients that connect to one Broker in a territory can automatically exchange documents with clients connected to any of the Brokers in the territory.

Territories support scalability by allowing you to segment traffic among multiple Brokers, while still treating the Brokers as a single operational unit.

When Brokers operate in a territory, they maintain the same set of document types and client group definitions. (These objects are initially synchronized when a Broker joins a territory.) Any changes that occur to these objects on one Broker, are automatically propagated to the other Brokers in the territory.

The Brokers that are members of a territory can reside on any Broker Server. The following figure shows a territory that is made up of three Brokers on two Broker Servers.

You use the Broker user interface to form territories and to monitor traffic that flows among the Brokers that make up the territory.

For information about working with territories, see Managing Territories.