[[_operating-mode]]

== Choosing an Operating Mode

Before deploying {{book.project.name}} in a production environment you need to decide which type of operating mode
you are going to use.  Will you run {{book.project.name}} within a cluster?  Do you want a centralized way to manage
your server configurations?  Your choice of operating mode effects how you configure databases, configure caching and even how you boot the server.

TIP: The {{book.project.name}} is built on top of the {{book.appserver.name}} Application Server.  This guide will only
     go over the basics for deployment within a specific mode.  If you want specific information on this, a better place
     to go would be the link:{{book.appserver.admindoc.link}}[_{{book.appserver.admindoc.name}}_].