Apparatus and method for routing a transaction to a partitioned server

1. A method for routing a transaction to a partitioned server, comprising:

identifying a plurality of partitions on said partitioned server;

determining a configuration of each of said plurality of partitions;

providing said configurations to a load balancer, wherein said transaction is routed by said load balancer to one of said plurality of partitions based at least in part on said configurations;

assigning a rank to each of said plurality of partitions based at least in part on said configurations, wherein said transaction is routed based on said ranking; and

storing said configurations in a partition profile, wherein said configurations are provided to said load balancer via said partition profile.

2. A method as in claim 1 , wherein said configurations are determined in response to an event.

3. A method as in claim 1 , wherein said configurations are determined on a continuous basis.

4. A method as in claim 1 , wherein said plurality of partitions are identified based on a network address for each of said plurality of partitions.

5. A method as in claim 1 , further comprising selecting said partitioned server from a pool of servers.

6. An apparatus for routing a transaction to a partitioned server, comprising:

a number of computer readable storage media;

computer readable program code stored on said number of computer readable storage media, comprising:

a) program code for identifying a plurality of partitions on said partitioned server;

b) program code for determining a configuration for each of said plurality of partitions in response to an event;

c) program code providing said configuration of each of said plurality of partitions to a load balancer, wherein said transaction is routed by said load balancer to one of said plurality of partitions based at least in part on said configuration thereof; and

d) program code for assigning a rank to each of said plurality of partitions based at least in part on said configuration thereof, wherein said transaction is routed based on said rank.

7. An apparatus as in claim 6 , wherein said program code for determining said configuration receives said configuration from a partition manager.

8. An apparatus as in claim 6 , wherein said program code for identifying said plurality of partitions separately identifies each of said plurality of partitions by a network address.

9. An apparatus as in claim 6 , wherein said program code for identifying said plurality of partitions identifies said plurality of partitions as logical partitions on said server.

10. An apparatus as in claim 6 , wherein said program code for identifying said plurality of partitions identifies said plurality of partitions as resource partitions on said server.

11. An apparatus as in claim 6 , wherein said program code for determining said configuration determines the allocation of at least on resource to each of said plurality of partitions.

12. An apparatus as in claim 6 , further comprising program code for determining a rank of said partitions based on the relative weight of resources allocated to each of said plurality of partitions.

13. An apparatus as in claim 6 , further comprising program code for selecting said partitioned server form a pool of servers.

14. An apparatus as in claim 6 , wherein said program code for identifying said plurality of partitions identifies said plurality of partitions a dynamically configured.

15. An apparatus as in claim 6 , wherein said program code for identifying said plurality of partitions identifies each of said plurality of partitions by separate network interface cards.

16. An apparatus having a processor for routing a transaction to a partitioned server, comprising:

means for identifying a plurality of partitions on said partitioned server;

means for determining a configuration of each of said plurality of partitions in response to an event;

means for routing said transaction to one of said plurality of partitions based at least in part on said configuration thereof; and

means for assigning a rank to each of said plurality of partitions based at least in part on said configuration thereof, wherein said transaction is routed based on said rank.

17. A method for routing a transaction to a partitioned server, comprising:

identifying a plurality of partitions on said partitioned server based on a network address for each of said plurality of partitions;

determining a configuration of each of said plurality of partitions in response to an event;

determining at least one characteristic of said transaction; and

routing said transaction to one of said plurality of partitions based on said configurations of said plurality of partitions and based on said at least one characteristic of said transaction.

18. A method as in claim 17 , further comprising comparing said at least one characteristic of said transaction with said configuration of each of said plurality of partitions.

19. A method as in claim 17 , wherein said at least one characteristic is determined by reading a tag associated with said transaction.

20. A method as in claim 17 , wherein said at least one characteristic is determined to be a type of said transaction.

21. A method as in claim 17 , wherein said at least one characteristic is determined to be a requested level of service for said transaction.