diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastMessenger.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastMessenger.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ec698262c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastMessenger.java
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+import org.springframework.extensions.surf.util.ParameterCheck;
+
+import com.hazelcast.core.ITopic;
+import com.hazelcast.core.MessageListener;
+
+/**
+ * Hazelcast-based implementation of the {@link Messenger} interface.
+ * 
+ * @see HazelcastMessengerFactory
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+public class HazelcastMessenger<T extends Serializable> implements Messenger<T>, MessageListener<T>
+{
+    private ITopic<T> topic;
+    private MessageReceiver<T> receiverDelegate;
+    
+    
+    /**
+     * @param topic
+     */
+    public HazelcastMessenger(ITopic<T> topic)
+    {
+        this.topic = topic;
+    }
+
+
+    @Override
+    public void send(T message)
+    {
+        topic.publish(message);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void setReceiver(MessageReceiver<T> receiver)
+    {
+        // Install a delegate to ready to handle incoming messages.
+        receiverDelegate = receiver;
+        // Start receiving messages.
+        topic.addMessageListener(this);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void onMessage(T message)
+    {
+        ParameterCheck.mandatory("message", message);
+        receiverDelegate.onReceive(message);
+    }
+
+    protected String getTopicName()
+    {
+        return topic.getName();
+    }
+
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isConnected()
+    {
+        return true;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastMessengerFactory.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastMessengerFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0c5390be51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastMessengerFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+import org.alfresco.util.PropertyCheck;
+
+import com.hazelcast.core.ITopic;
+
+/**
+ * Hazelcast-based implementation of the {@link MessengerFactory} interface.
+ * The factory must be configured with an {@link ITopic} - which
+ * should be configured with a topic name that corresponds to an application
+ * region.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+public class HazelcastMessengerFactory implements MessengerFactory
+{
+    private ITopic<Object> topic;
+    
+    
+    /**
+     * @param topic the topic to set
+     */
+    public void setTopic(ITopic<Object> topic)
+    {
+        this.topic = topic;
+    }
+
+    /*
+     * @see org.alfresco.repo.cluster.MessengerFactory#createMessenger()
+     */
+    @Override
+    public <T extends Serializable> Messenger<T> createMessenger()
+    {
+        PropertyCheck.mandatory(this, "topic", topic);
+        return new HazelcastMessenger(topic);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastMessengerFactoryTest.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastMessengerFactoryTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..81da050280
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastMessengerFactoryTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.runners.MockitoJUnitRunner;
+
+import com.hazelcast.core.ITopic;
+
+
+/**
+ * Tests for the HazelcastMessengerFactory class.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+@RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
+public class HazelcastMessengerFactoryTest
+{
+    private HazelcastMessengerFactory factory;
+    private @Mock ITopic<Object> topic;
+    
+    @Before
+    public void setUp()
+    {
+        factory = new HazelcastMessengerFactory();
+        factory.setTopic(topic);
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void topicWrappedInMessenger()
+    {
+        when(topic.getName()).thenReturn("app-region");
+        HazelcastMessenger messenger = (HazelcastMessenger) factory.createMessenger();
+        assertEquals("app-region", messenger.getTopicName());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastMessengerTest.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastMessengerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..625009211e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastMessengerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.runners.MockitoJUnitRunner;
+
+import com.hazelcast.core.ITopic;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for the HazelcastMessenger class.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+@RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
+public class HazelcastMessengerTest
+{
+    private @Mock ITopic<String> topic;
+    private HazelcastMessenger<String> messenger;
+    private String receivedMsg;
+    
+    @Before
+    public void setUp()
+    {
+        messenger = new HazelcastMessenger<String>(topic);
+        receivedMsg = null;
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void canSendMessage()
+    {
+        messenger.send("Test string");
+        verify(topic).publish("Test string");
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void canReceiveMessage()
+    {
+        messenger.setReceiver(new MessageReceiver<String>()
+        {
+            @Override
+            public void onReceive(String message)
+            {
+                receivedMsg = new String(message);
+            }
+        });
+        
+        // Hazelcast will call the onMessage method...
+        messenger.onMessage("Hazelcast is sending a message.");
+        
+        // setReceiver() should have resulted in a listener being registered with the topic.
+        verify(topic).addMessageListener(messenger);
+        
+        assertEquals("Hazelcast is sending a message.", receivedMsg);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastTest.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4e6e2f5841
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/HazelcastTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+
+import org.alfresco.util.ApplicationContextHelper;
+import org.jgroups.ChannelException;
+import org.junit.AfterClass;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
+
+import com.hazelcast.config.Config;
+import com.hazelcast.config.GroupConfig;
+import com.hazelcast.core.Hazelcast;
+import com.hazelcast.core.HazelcastInstance;
+import com.hazelcast.core.ITopic;
+import com.hazelcast.core.MessageListener;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for Hazelcast implementations of {@link Messenger} and related classes.
+ * These are integration tests and configured through a Spring test context file.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+public class HazelcastTest implements MessageListener<String>
+{
+    private static ApplicationContext ctx;
+    private MessengerTestHelper helper;
+    
+    @BeforeClass
+    public static void setUpClass()
+    {
+        ctx = ApplicationContextHelper.
+                getApplicationContext(new String[] { "cluster-test/hazelcast-messenger-test.xml" });
+    }
+    
+    @AfterClass
+    public static void tearDownClass()
+    {
+        ApplicationContextHelper.closeApplicationContext();
+    }
+    
+    @Before
+    public void setUp()
+    {
+        helper = new MessengerTestHelper();
+    }
+ 
+    
+    @Test
+    public void canSendWithHazelcastMessengerFactory() throws InterruptedException, ChannelException
+    {
+        Config config = new Config();
+        GroupConfig groupConfig = new GroupConfig();
+        groupConfig.setName("testcluster");
+        groupConfig.setPassword("secret");
+        config.setGroupConfig(groupConfig);
+        HazelcastInstance hi = Hazelcast.newHazelcastInstance(config);
+        ITopic<String> topic = hi.getTopic("testregion");
+        
+        topic.addMessageListener(this);
+        
+        MessengerFactory messengerFactory = (MessengerFactory) ctx.getBean("messengerFactory");
+        Messenger<String> messenger = messengerFactory.createMessenger();
+        messenger.send("Full test including spring.");
+        
+        helper.checkMessageReceivedWas("Full test including spring.");
+    }
+
+
+    @Override
+    public void onMessage(String message)
+    {
+        helper.setReceivedMsg(message);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/JGroupsMessenger.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/JGroupsMessenger.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f96604ee39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/JGroupsMessenger.java
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.ObjectInput;
+import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
+import java.io.ObjectOutput;
+import java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+import org.jgroups.Channel;
+import org.jgroups.Message;
+import org.jgroups.ReceiverAdapter;
+
+/**
+ * JGroups implementation of the {@link Messenger} class.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+public class JGroupsMessenger<T extends Serializable> extends ReceiverAdapter implements Messenger<T>
+{
+    private final Channel channel;
+    private MessageReceiver<T> receiverDelegate;
+    
+    
+    /**
+     * Construct a messenger that wraps a JGroups Channel.
+     * 
+     * @param channel
+     */
+    public JGroupsMessenger(Channel channel)
+    {
+        this.channel = channel;
+    }
+
+    
+    @Override
+    public void send(T message)
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            // Serializing the message ourselves and passing a byte[]
+            // to Channel.send() as recommended by JGroups.
+            ByteArrayOutputStream bytes = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+            ObjectOutput out = new ObjectOutputStream(bytes);
+            out.writeObject(message);
+            out.close();
+            bytes.close();
+            channel.send(null, null, bytes.toByteArray());
+        }
+        catch (Throwable e)
+        {
+            throw new MessageSendingException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /*
+     * @see org.alfresco.repo.cluster.Messenger#setReceiver(org.alfresco.repo.cluster.MessageReceiver)
+     */
+    @Override
+    public void setReceiver(MessageReceiver<T> receiver)
+    {
+        // Make sure the delegate is installed, before starting to receive messages.
+        receiverDelegate = receiver;
+        // Start receiving messages and dispatch them to the delegate.
+        channel.setReceiver(this);
+    }
+
+
+    /*
+     * @see org.jgroups.ReceiverAdapter#receive(org.jgroups.Message)
+     */
+    @Override
+    public void receive(Message msg)
+    {
+        // Deserializing the message ourselves rather than using
+        // the Message's getObject() method (as recommended by JGroups).
+        byte[] msgBytes = msg.getBuffer();
+        ByteArrayInputStream bytes = new ByteArrayInputStream(msgBytes);
+        ObjectInput in;
+        try
+        {
+            in = new ObjectInputStream(bytes);
+            @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+            T payload = (T) in.readObject();
+            in.close();
+            bytes.close();
+            // Pass the deserialized payload on to the receiver delegate
+            receiverDelegate.onReceive(payload);
+        }
+        catch (IOException e)
+        {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Couldn't receive object.", e);
+        }
+        catch (ClassNotFoundException e)
+        {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Couldn't receive object.", e);
+        }
+    }
+
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isConnected()
+    {
+        return channel.isConnected();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/JGroupsMessengerFactory.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/JGroupsMessengerFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..65e104e929
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/JGroupsMessengerFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+import org.alfresco.repo.jgroups.AlfrescoJGroupsChannelFactory;
+import org.alfresco.util.PropertyCheck;
+import org.jgroups.Channel;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Required;
+
+/**
+ * JGroups implementation of the {@link MessengerFactory} interface.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+public class JGroupsMessengerFactory implements MessengerFactory
+{
+    private String appRegion;
+    
+    
+    @Override
+    public <T extends Serializable> Messenger<T> createMessenger()
+    {
+        PropertyCheck.mandatory(this, "appRegion", appRegion);
+        Channel channel = AlfrescoJGroupsChannelFactory.getChannel(appRegion);
+        return new JGroupsMessenger<T>(channel);
+    }
+
+    @Required
+    public void setAppRegion(String appRegion)
+    {
+        this.appRegion = appRegion;
+    }    
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/JGroupsMessengerTest.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/JGroupsMessengerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5d0c4e324c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/JGroupsMessengerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.ObjectOutput;
+import java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
+
+import org.jgroups.Channel;
+import org.jgroups.ChannelClosedException;
+import org.jgroups.ChannelNotConnectedException;
+import org.jgroups.Message;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.mockito.Mockito;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for the JGroupsMessenger class.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+public class JGroupsMessengerTest
+{
+    private Channel channel;
+    private JGroupsMessenger<String> messenger;
+    protected String receivedMsg;
+
+    @Before
+    public void setUp()
+    {
+        channel = Mockito.mock(Channel.class);
+        messenger = new JGroupsMessenger<String>(channel);
+        receivedMsg = null;
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void canSendMessage() throws ChannelNotConnectedException, ChannelClosedException, IOException
+    {
+        String testText = "This is a test message";
+        byte[] testTextSer = serialize(testText);
+        // When a message is sent...
+        messenger.send(testText);
+        
+        // the underlying channel should have been used to send it,
+        // but will be called with a serialized version of the text.
+        verify(channel).send(null, null, testTextSer);
+    }
+    
+    
+    @Test
+    public void canReceiveMessage() throws IOException
+    {
+        MessageReceiver<String> receiver = new MessageReceiver<String>()
+        {
+            @Override
+            public void onReceive(String message)
+            {
+                receivedMsg = message;
+            }   
+        };
+        
+        messenger.setReceiver(receiver);
+        Message jgroupsMessage = new Message(null, null, serialize("JGroups message payload"));
+        // JGroups will call the receive method
+        messenger.receive(jgroupsMessage);
+        
+        // The Messenger should have installed itself as the message
+        // receiver for the underlying channel.
+        verify(channel).setReceiver(messenger);
+        
+        assertEquals("JGroups message payload", receivedMsg.toString());
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void canDelegateIsConnected()
+    {
+        Mockito.when(channel.isConnected()).thenReturn(true);
+        assertEquals(true, messenger.isConnected());
+
+        Mockito.when(channel.isConnected()).thenReturn(false);
+        assertEquals(false, messenger.isConnected());
+    }
+
+    private byte[] serialize(String text) throws IOException
+    {
+        ByteArrayOutputStream bytes = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+        ObjectOutput out = new ObjectOutputStream(bytes);
+        out.writeObject(text);
+        out.close();
+        bytes.close();
+        return bytes.toByteArray();
+    }
+}
+
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/JGroupsTest.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/JGroupsTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e0f928fec4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/JGroupsTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,180 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.ObjectInput;
+import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
+import java.util.Collections;
+
+import org.alfresco.repo.jgroups.AlfrescoJGroupsChannelFactory;
+import org.alfresco.util.ApplicationContextHelper;
+import org.jgroups.Channel;
+import org.jgroups.ChannelException;
+import org.jgroups.JChannel;
+import org.jgroups.Message;
+import org.jgroups.ReceiverAdapter;
+import org.junit.AfterClass;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.Ignore;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for the JGroups messaging abstractions.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+public class JGroupsTest extends ReceiverAdapter
+{
+    private static ApplicationContext ctx;
+    private MessengerTestHelper helper;
+    
+    @BeforeClass
+    public static void setUpClass()
+    {
+        ctx = ApplicationContextHelper.
+                getApplicationContext(new String[] { "cluster-test/jgroups-messenger-test.xml" });
+    }
+    
+    @AfterClass
+    public static void tearDownClass()
+    {
+        ApplicationContextHelper.closeApplicationContext();
+    }
+    
+    @Before
+    public void setUp()
+    {
+        helper = new MessengerTestHelper();
+    }
+ 
+    @Test
+    public void canSendWithJGroupsMessengerFactory() throws InterruptedException, ChannelException
+    {
+        Channel ch = new JChannel("udp.xml");
+        ch.connect("testcluster:testregion");
+        ch.setReceiver(this);
+        
+        MessengerFactory messengerFactory = (MessengerFactory) ctx.getBean("messengerFactory");
+        Messenger<String> messenger = messengerFactory.createMessenger();
+        messenger.send("Full test including spring.");
+        
+        helper.checkMessageReceivedWas("Full test including spring.");
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void canSendWithJGroupsMessengerFactoryWithoutSpring() throws InterruptedException, ChannelException
+    {
+        Channel ch = new JChannel("udp.xml");
+        ch.connect("testcluster:testregion");
+        ch.setReceiver(this);
+        
+        AlfrescoJGroupsChannelFactory channelFactory = new AlfrescoJGroupsChannelFactory();
+        channelFactory.setClusterName("testcluster");
+        channelFactory.setConfigUrlsByAppRegion(Collections.singletonMap("DEFAULT", "classpath:udp.xml"));
+        AlfrescoJGroupsChannelFactory.rebuildChannels();
+        
+        JGroupsMessengerFactory messengerFactory = new JGroupsMessengerFactory();
+        messengerFactory.setAppRegion("testregion");
+        Messenger<String> messenger = messengerFactory.createMessenger();
+        messenger.send("This is a test payload.");
+        
+        helper.checkMessageReceivedWas("This is a test payload.");
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void canWrapRawChannels() throws ChannelException, InterruptedException
+    {
+        Channel sendCh = new JChannel("udp.xml");
+        sendCh.connect("mycluster");
+        Messenger<String> messenger = new JGroupsMessenger<String>(sendCh);
+
+        Channel recvCh = new JChannel("udp.xml");
+        recvCh.connect("mycluster");
+        recvCh.setReceiver(this);
+        
+        messenger.send("This message was sent with jgroups");
+        
+        helper.checkMessageReceivedWas("This message was sent with jgroups");
+    }
+    
+    @Ignore("Not currently allowing multiple receivers per underlying Channel")
+    @Test
+    public void canReceiveFromMultipleMessageReceivers() throws InterruptedException, ChannelException
+    {
+        Channel ch = new JChannel("udp.xml");
+        ch.connect("mycluster");
+        Messenger<String> sendMsgr = new JGroupsMessenger<String>(ch);
+
+        Messenger<String> recvMsgr1 = new JGroupsMessenger<String>(ch);
+        TestMessageReceiver r1 = new TestMessageReceiver();
+        recvMsgr1.setReceiver(r1);
+        
+        Messenger<String> recvMsgr2 = new JGroupsMessenger<String>(ch);
+        TestMessageReceiver r2 = new TestMessageReceiver();
+        recvMsgr2.setReceiver(r2);
+        
+        sendMsgr.send("This message was sent with jgroups");
+        
+        Thread.sleep(50);
+        assertEquals("This message was sent with jgroups", new String(r1.receivedMsg));
+        assertEquals("This message was sent with jgroups", new String(r2.receivedMsg));
+    }
+    
+    @Override
+    public void receive(Message msg)
+    {
+        ByteArrayInputStream bytes = new ByteArrayInputStream(msg.getBuffer());
+        ObjectInput in;
+        try
+        {
+            in = new ObjectInputStream(bytes);
+            String payload = (String) in.readObject();
+            in.close();
+            bytes.close();
+            helper.setReceivedMsg(payload);
+        }
+        catch (IOException e)
+        {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Couldn't receive object.", e);
+        }
+        catch (ClassNotFoundException e)
+        {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Couldn't receive object.", e);
+        }
+    }
+    
+    
+    public static class TestMessageReceiver implements MessageReceiver<String>
+    {
+        String receivedMsg;
+        
+        @Override
+        public void onReceive(String message)
+        {
+            receivedMsg = message;
+        }   
+    }
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/MessageReceiver.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/MessageReceiver.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..474c4adac6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/MessageReceiver.java
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+/**
+ * Implement this interface and supply to a {@link Messenger} using
+ * {@link Messenger#setReceiver(MessageReceiver)} in order to receive
+ * messages from other {@link Messenger}s.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+public interface MessageReceiver<T extends Serializable>
+{
+    void onReceive(T message);
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/MessageSendingException.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/MessageSendingException.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..60d34a3174
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/MessageSendingException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+/**
+ * Thrown when unable to send a message using a {@link Messenger}.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+public class MessageSendingException extends RuntimeException
+{
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    public MessageSendingException(Throwable e)
+    {
+        super("Unable to send message", e);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/Messenger.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/Messenger.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0ef889c33f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/Messenger.java
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+/**
+ * Provides facilities for peer-to-peer messaging within a cluster. This interface
+ * is intended to act as a facade, allowing the actual implementation (e.g. JGroups
+ * or Hazelcast) to be decoupled as much as possible from the Alfresco code base.
+ * <p>
+ * Instances of this class are parameterised with the type of message payload
+ * to send and receive.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+public interface Messenger<T extends Serializable>
+{
+    void send(T message);
+    
+    void setReceiver(MessageReceiver<T> receiver);
+    
+    boolean isConnected();
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/MessengerFactory.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/MessengerFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6ee3eeca3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/MessengerFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+/**
+ * Factory class responsible for creating instances of {@link Messenger} class.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+public interface MessengerFactory
+{   
+    <T extends Serializable> Messenger<T> createMessenger();
+}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/MessengerTestHelper.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/MessengerTestHelper.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4cd9dcc85e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/cluster/MessengerTestHelper.java
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.repo.cluster;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+/**
+ * Helper class for testing Messenger related code.
+ * 
+ * @author Matt Ward
+ */
+public class MessengerTestHelper
+{
+    private String receivedMsg;
+    private final static int SLEEP_MILLIS = 5;
+    
+    
+    public MessengerTestHelper()
+    {
+        setReceivedMsg(null);
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * Try to avoid intermitten test failures by trying multiple times. Hopefully the messge
+     * will have been received after the very first sleep, but in a slow environment it may take longer.
+     * This also allows the sleep time to be lower - rather than waiting for say 500 ms, we can try 10 times
+     * at 5 ms - with a chance that we can return after the initial 5 ms.
+     * 
+     * @param expectedMsg
+     * @throws InterruptedException
+     */
+    public void checkMessageReceivedWas(String expectedMsg)
+    {
+        int tries = 0;
+        
+        while (tries < 10)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                Thread.sleep(SLEEP_MILLIS);
+            }
+            catch (InterruptedException e)
+            {
+                // Carry on
+                e.printStackTrace();
+            }
+            if (getReceivedMsg() != null)
+            {
+                assertEquals(expectedMsg, getReceivedMsg());
+                return;
+            }
+            tries++;
+        }
+        fail("No message received, tried " + tries +
+             " times, sleeping " + SLEEP_MILLIS + "ms each time.");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return the receivedMsg
+     */
+    public String getReceivedMsg()
+    {
+        return this.receivedMsg;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param receivedMsg the receivedMsg to set
+     */
+    public void setReceivedMsg(String receivedMsg)
+    {
+        this.receivedMsg = receivedMsg;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/source/test-resources/cluster-test/hazelcast-messenger-test.xml b/source/test-resources/cluster-test/hazelcast-messenger-test.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b0425f1a0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/test-resources/cluster-test/hazelcast-messenger-test.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
+<!DOCTYPE beans PUBLIC '-//SPRING//DTD BEAN//EN' 'http://www.springframework.org/dtd/spring-beans.dtd'>
+
+<beans>
+
+    <bean id="messengerFactory" class="org.alfresco.repo.cluster.HazelcastMessengerFactory">
+        <property name="topic" ref="messengerTopic"/>
+    </bean>
+    
+    <bean id="hazelcastInstance" class="com.hazelcast.core.Hazelcast" factory-method="newHazelcastInstance">
+        <constructor-arg>
+            <bean class="com.hazelcast.config.Config">
+                <property name="groupConfig">
+                    <bean class="com.hazelcast.config.GroupConfig">
+                        <property name="name" value="testcluster"/>
+                        <property name="password" value="secret"/>
+                    </bean>
+                </property>
+            </bean>
+        </constructor-arg>
+    </bean>
+
+    <bean id="messengerTopic" factory-bean="hazelcastInstance" factory-method="getTopic">
+        <constructor-arg value="testregion"/>
+    </bean>
+</beans>
diff --git a/source/test-resources/cluster-test/jgroups-messenger-test.xml b/source/test-resources/cluster-test/jgroups-messenger-test.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..46f89844df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/test-resources/cluster-test/jgroups-messenger-test.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
+<!DOCTYPE beans PUBLIC '-//SPRING//DTD BEAN//EN' 'http://www.springframework.org/dtd/spring-beans.dtd'>
+
+<beans>
+    <bean name="jgroupsChannelFactory"
+        class="org.alfresco.repo.jgroups.AlfrescoJGroupsChannelFactory">
+        <property name="clusterName">
+            <value>testcluster</value>
+        </property>
+        <property name="configUrlsByAppRegion">
+            <map>
+                <entry key="DEFAULT">
+                    <value>classpath:udp.xml</value>
+                </entry>
+            </map>
+        </property>
+    </bean>
+
+
+    <!--
+      This could also be done as a spring FactoryBean, so that anything this is wired up to will
+      gain a Messenger instance that it can use to send messages.
+     -->
+    <bean id="messengerFactory" class="org.alfresco.repo.cluster.JGroupsMessengerFactory">
+        <property name="appRegion" value="testregion"/>
+    </bean>
+</beans>
\ No newline at end of file