Hazelcast Clusters

This chapter describes Hazelcast clusters and the ways cluster members use to form a Hazelcast cluster.

Hazelcast Cluster Discovery

A Hazelcast cluster is a network of cluster members that run Hazelcast. Cluster members (also called nodes) automatically join together to form a cluster. This automatic joining takes place with various discovery mechanisms that the cluster members use to find each other. Hazelcast uses the following discovery mechanisms.

Each discovery mechanism is explained in the following sections.

image NOTE: After a cluster is formed, communication between cluster members is always via TCP/IP, regardless of the discovery mechanism used.