1. A system for managing nodes in a data grid from within an application server, comprising: a computer which includes an application server, wherein the application server includes an administrative user interface; a data grid including a plurality of nodes operating as a cluster, wherein each node in the data grid has node attributes that define node functionality; a configuration repository provided by the application server and accessible to the administrative user interface, wherein the configuration repository stores configuration information used by the administrative user interface to directly manage the plurality of nodes in the data grid, and wherein the administrative user interface directs the application server to interpret the configuration information in the configuration repository, and communicate the interpreted configuration information to a node manager client on the application server; wherein, upon receiving the interpreted configuration information, the node manager client uses the interpreted configuration information to modify the operation of the plurality of nodes in the data grid by overriding node attributes of each node according to the configuration information; and wherein the plurality of nodes thereafter operate according to the configuration information.