WAN Clustering

What Does WAN Clustering Mean?

WAN clustering involves putting together different distributed hardware pieces into a single network system. In WAN clustering IT professionals link servers and other hardware in multiple locations, in order to boost capacity or safeguard business operations.

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WAN clustering is also referred to as geo-clustering or high availability clustering.

Techopedia Explains WAN Clustering

WAN clustering involves Wide Area Network or WAN systems. This means administrators can string together servers, mainframes or other system parts in a remote network that will enable safe and secure components to pick up operations if any one business location or piece of hardware, such as a server, is compromised.

Businesses can use WAN clustering to speed up or improve operations, but these are often also used for redundant storage or redundant operation designs. In any crisis, a system called "failover" takes control. This system involves some hardware pieces taking over tasks for others, and rerouting data capture and data storage trajectories to make sure that important information keeps coming in and getting recorded. These kinds of new systems help with disaster recovery planning and other contingency planning for enterprise IT architectures.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…