Oracle WebLogic Server 11g Administration Handbook

Benefits of Using Network Channels

In a production environment, the default network channel isn't sufficient to take care of the complex network traffic requirements, and you'll find that you need additional network channels to support complex production network requirements. Custom network channels provide several benefits, including the ability to separate different types of network traffic. Multiple custom channels also enable you to specify different connection protocols, such as secure and nonsecure protocols, to meet the needs of different types of applications and their network traffic. You can also create a custom network channel to handle cluster communications.

Generally one will use network channels in conjunction with network router ...