WebSphere Application Server V7.0: Concepts ... - IBM Redbooks

The Parallel start setting can affect how an application server starts. Access this
setting by navigating to Servers → Server Types → WebSphere application
servers → .
The deployment manager, node agents, and application servers can start in any
order they are discovered, with the exception that the node agent must start
before any application server on that node. Communication channels are
established as they start up and each has its own configuration and application
data to start.
You can prevent an application from starting automatically at application server
startup, enabling you to start it later manually. To prevent an application from
starting when a server starts, navigate to Applications → Application Types →
WebSphere enterprise applications → → Target
specific application status and disable auto start for the application.
9.5.3 Custom application configuration templates
WebSphere Application Server provides the ability to create a customized server
template that is based on an existing server configuration. Server templates can
then be used to create new servers. This provides a powerful mechanism to
propagate the server configuration both within the same cell and across cell
boundaries. To propagate the server configuration across cell boundaries, the
server configuration must be exported to a configuration archive, after which it
can be imported to another cell.
If you are going to need more than one application server (say, for a cluster), and
the characteristics of the server are different from the default server template, it is
more efficient to create a custom template and use that template to create your
WebSphere Application Server. When creating a cluster, be sure to use this
template when you add the first member to the cluster. Subsequent servers in
the cluster will also be created using this template. This will reduce the scope for
error and make the task of creating the server cluster much faster.
9.5.4 Planning for resource scope use
Resource scope is a powerful concept to prevent duplication of resources across
lower-level scopes. For example, if a data source can be used by multiple servers
in a node, it makes sense to define that data source once at the node level, rather
than create the data source multiple times, possibly introducing errors along the
way. Also, if the data source definition needs to change (maybe due to changes
to an underlying database), the data source definition can be changed once and
is visible to all servers within the node. The savings in time and cost should be
self-evident.
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