A domain consists of one domain controller, one or more host controller(s), and zero or more server groups per host.
A domain controller is the central point from which the domain is controlled. It ensures that each server is configured according to the management policy of the domain. The domain controller is also a host controller.
A host controller is a physical or virtual host on which the domain.sh or domain.bat script is run. Host controllers are configured to delegate domain management tasks to the domain controller. The host controller on each host interacts with the domain controller to control the lifecycle of the application server instances running on its host and to assist the domain controller to manage them. Each host can contain multiple server groups.
A server group is a set of server instances which have ${build.shortName} installed on them and are managed and configured as one. The domain controller manages the configuration of and applications deployed onto server groups. Consequently, each server in a server group shares the same configuration and deployments.