A queue manager owns and controls WebSphere MQ Everyplace messages, queues, and connections (see below). It allows applications to access messages and queues. Each queue manager has a unique name that distinguishes it from any other WebSphere MQ Everyplace queue manager. Depending upon the needs of an application, queue managers can differ in their collection of queues, messages, connections, and other objects, and also in the role they play in a configuration.
WebSphere MQ Everyplace identifies three distinct roles for queue managers in addition to the basic queue manager functionality: