You can configure the DIA servers as nodes in an Informatica PowerCenter Grid, to make use of the many beneficial features of the Informatica Enterprise Grid Option, such as:

1.  adaptive load balancing

2.  high availability

3.  dynamic partitioning

The Informatica Enterprise Grid Option is an extra-cost option which you can separately purchase from Informatica.

When you configure the DIA servers into a grid, you can configure workflows and sessions to run on the grid. You can run a workflow, or a session on the grid.

When you run a workflow on a grid, the PowerCenter Integration Service runs a service process on each available DIA server in the grid, to load balance, and increase the performance and scalability of the computing processes.

When you run a session on a grid, the Integration Service distributes session threads to multiple Data Transformation Manager (DTM) processes on DIA

servers in the grid.

To set up the DIA servers as a PowerCenter Grid, you use the Administrator’s Console, and create a new Grid option for the domain you are using (see figure below.)

Note: To run workflows on a PowerCenter grid, you must have the Server grid option. To run sessions on a grid, you must have the Session on Grid option.

The Enterprise Grid option is useful when handling mission-critical,enterprise-wide data integration from a single platform. An example of where a grid may be useful is when a workflow has many  sessions that must be completed at the same time. Running this workflow on a single node will force it to run serially, sacrificing performance and usability. When this workflow is run on a grid, the sessions can be distributed to all the available nodes in the grid, according to the computing and memory resources required, ensuring maximum performance and maximum return of investment.