Linking cells into a star topology allows you to combine multiple cells, so that all of the cells behave like a single unit. This also helps to reduce the amount of traffic and resources (cpu, memory) being used by a single cell - both traffic and resources are disributed across the cells.

Ensure that the operating systems clocks for each cell are in sync - you way want to configure each operating system to use the same NTP server.

All of the cells should either have global security enabled or disabled. If enabled, ensure every cell is configured to dynamically update the run time when SSL configuration changes are made.

You will configure one of the cells to be the center cell, and all other cells will be point cells.

Center cell

1. In the left panel of the Websphere admin console, expand System administration and select Cells.
2. Select Custom properties.
3. Select New.
4. Enter CenterCell and True.
5. Select Ok.
6. Restart the cell.

Point cells

1. In the left panel of the Websphere admin console, expand System administration and select Cells.
2. Select Custom properties.
3. Select New.
4. Enter CenterCell and False.
5. Select Ok.
6. Restart the cell.

On the center cell, run the install_root/bin/linkCells.sh script to create the communication between the center cell and the point cells. Do not link point cells together.

./linkCells.sh center_cell_hostname:soap_port:username:password point_cell_hostname:soap_port:username:password