This section describes the implementation and operation of our prototype cluster. Section 5.1 gives an overview of the various components of the cluster. Section 5.2 provides details on the implementation of a software based layer-4 switch that we implemented for interfacing the cluster with the clients. Section 5.3 describes the sequence of operations in the cluster upon receiving a client request. Section 5.4 discusses techniques employed in our implementation to improve the scalability of the dispatcher by reducing the overhead of communicating with other cluster nodes.