---
title:  Topologies and Communication
---

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*Topologies and Communication* explains how to plan and configure <%=vars.product_name_long%> member discovery, peer-to-peer and client/server communication topologies.

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-   **[Topology and Communication General Concepts](topology_concepts/chapter_overview.html)**

    Before you configure your <%=vars.product_name_long%> members, make sure you understand the options for topology and communication.

-   **[Peer-to-Peer Configuration](p2p_configuration/chapter_overview.html)**

    Use peer-to-peer configuration to set member discovery and communication within a single distributed system.

-   **[Client/Server Configuration](cs_configuration/chapter_overview.html)**

    In the client/server architecture, a relatively small server farm manages the cached data of and access to the same data for many client applications. Clients can update and access data efficiently, leaving the servers to manage data distribution to other clients and any synchronization with outside data stores.

-   **[Multi-site (WAN) Configuration](multi_site_configuration/chapter_overview.html)**

    Use the multi-site configuration to scale horizontally between disparate, loosely-coupled distributed systems. A wide-area network (WAN) is the main use case for the multi-site topology.


