The technology helps companies optimize their networks by acting as a "traffic cop" that automatically monitors application workload and routes traffic to one server or another according to its current workload. A multi-server cluster can operate as a single, integrated computer system that handles sudden changes.

IBM says many companies have too much server processing power that sits unused, awaiting a spike in demand. For example, it says, UNIX servers sometimes serve data less than 10 percent of the time, and many PCs in businesses are under-utilized as much as 95 percent of a typical day. The efficiency that comes with grid computing can help companies get the most out of existing hardware and software investments.

Other updates to WAS 5.0.2 include WebSphere Performance Advisor, which helps administrators analyze live systems to improve application performance, and Automatic Backup Clusters, which lets a company set up a backup cluster of servers in case the primary cluster fails.

The "traffic cop" technology is available in WAS 5.0.2 as of July 25, 2003. An IT administrator can install it with a simple point and click as part of the WebSphere software setup, IBM says.

Future versions of WAS will extend these grid capability to other parts of a company and automatically coordinate multiple clusters of servers running various business applications, rather than just single clusters running a particular application.

WAS 5.0.2 -- Enterprise -- costs US$30,000 per processor.