WebSphere Portal Version 6 introduced the notion of four distinct database domains called Release, Community, Customization, and JCR domain. Those database domains can be represented by individual database schema within the same database instance or by separate,distinct database instances. The four domains contain different kinds of data:

1. The Release database domain contains all portal configuration data that make up a portalinstallation in a specific version (or release) such as the portal page topology and the configuration data for individual portlets.


2. The Customization domain contains private user customization data such as implicitly derived pages or user specific portlet preferences.


3. The Community domain contains those pages and portlets that are used in the Composite Application Infrastructure (introduced with WebSphere Portal V6.0).


4. The JCR domain contains those portal resources that are stored within the Java Content Repository (JCR) such as documents, folders, policies, and templates, personalization rules