A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that, in an
embodiment, determine an application server partition based on the
context of a request from a client, and send the request to the
application server partition if the application server partition exists.
If the application server partition does not exist, the application
server partition is created based on a creation rule, and the request is
then sent to the application server partition if the request context is
valid, as determined by a validation rule. Periodically, a remove rule is
compared to a condition of the application server partition, and if the
remove rule is met, the application server partition is removed. The
condition may include, in various embodiments, the usage time and
frequency of use of the application server partition or performance
criteria. In an embodiment, the validation rule, the creation rule, and
the remove rule may change over time. In this way, application server
partitions may be dynamically created and removed based on the context of
client requests and rules.