a system , method and program product for operating a cluster of servers . a load balancer , separate from the servers , selects servers to handle respective work requests assigned to the cluster based on a load balancing algorithm , and sends the work requests to the selected servers . the load balancer receives a request from another server not currently a member of the cluster . the request requests that the other server become a member of the cluster to handle work requests . in response to the request , the load balancer joins the other server as a member of the cluster to handle some work requests subsequently assigned to the cluster . the other server specifies to the load balancer a load threshold for the other server . the other server specifies to the load balancer a time - out to be used for the other server . the time - out indicates a time allotted for the other server to send a hello message since sending a previous hello message .