geode-docs/topologies_and_comm/cs_configuration/configure_servers_into_logical_groups.html.md.erb

---
title:  Organizing Servers Into Logical Member Groups
---

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In a client/server configuration, by putting servers into logical member groups, you can control which servers your clients use and target specific servers for specific data or tasks. You can configure servers to manage different data sets or to direct specific client traffic to a subset of servers, such as those directly connected to a back-end database.

<a id="configure_servers_into_logical_groups__section_411EA6C46AD4456C987C0759A05340F2"></a>
You can also define member groups to deploy JARs in parallel or to perform administrative commands across a member group.

To add servers to a member group, you can configure the following:

1.  Add the member group names to the `gemfire.properties` file for the server. For example:

    ``` pre
    groups=Portfolios,ManagementGroup1
    ```

    A server can belong to more than one member group. If specifying multiple group membership for the server, use a comma-separated list. Alternatively, if you are using the `gfsh` command interface to start up the server, provide a group name as a parameter:

    ``` pre
    gfsh>start server --name=server1 \
    --group=Portfolios,ManagementGroup1
    ```

2.  To configure a client to connect to a specific member group, modify the client's `cache.xml` file to define a distinct pool for each `server-group` and assign the pools to the corresponding client regions:

    ``` pre
    <pool name="PortfolioPool" server-group="Portfolios" ...
      <locator host="lucy" port="41111">
      ...
    </pool>
       ...
    <region name="clientRegion" ... 
      <region-attributes pool-name="PortfolioPool" ...
    ```