# Distributed Connector

The Distributed Connector distributes actions between Connectors. The Distributed Connector does not retrieve any information itself.

You can use the Distributed Connector to:

- Provide redundancy, ensuring continued service if a connector stops responding.

- Provide load balancing (divide work between multiple connectors, to achieve greater performance).

- Perform actions on documents. The Distributed Connector can take query results from IDOL and then pass actions to connectors. For example, a legal application might send a query to the Distributed Connector. The Distributed Connector forwards the query to IDOL Server, which returns documents that match the query. The Distributed Connector then instructs connectors to perform actions on these documents (for example collect or hold).

## Connector Groups

When a connector registers with a Distributed Connector, it must join a connector group. A connector group is a group of similar connectors. The Distributed Connector can handle multiple connector groups simultaneously. For example, you might create a group called `FilesystemConnectors`, and a group called `HTTPConnectors`.

All the connectors in a group must be of the same type (for example, HTTP Connectors). The connectors in a connector group must also be able to access the same repository.

## Shared Datastore Files

Connectors in a connector group must save their datastore files to a shared location (or send them to the Distributed Connector). This ensures that when the Distributed Connector sends actions to the group, the selected connector can access the information required to complete the action.

## Further Reading

For more information about the Distributed Connector, refer to the Distributed Connector Administration Guide.

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