Infrastructure software company Terracotta has reached beta stage availability with its BigMemory for Enterprise Ehcache product, a solution designed to address the problem of Garbage Collection (GC) in Java applications.
Terracotta says that BigMemory is a pure Java add-on to Enterprise Ehcache and is designed for both standalone and distributed caches. BigMemory works by providing an off-heap cache that frees Java applications from the memory and performance constraints of Garbage Collection.
The result, if executed and deployed correctly, is alleged to be a large memory footprint for hundreds of thousands of Java applications.
In the wake of analyst comments made by Anne MacFarland from the Clipper Group, Terracotta says that enterprise Java applications development faces a major challenge brought about by the limit on the size of JVMs imposed by Java Garbage Collection.
"BigMemory for Enterprise Ehcache is a non-disruptive, snap-in module that relieves a JVM of memory constraints. The use of BigMemory allows JVMs to be larger and less numerous, improving performance and controlling management costs. This is a step forward in the evolution of Enterprise Java," says MacFarland.
Terracotta also asserts that many organizations restrict JVM size to 2-4 GBs, placing a hard limit on the amount of application data that can be cached in-memory -- the company then says that using its tool, applications can cache 64 GBs or more of data in an off-heap store that’s not subject to GC. By allowing applications to run on fewer JVMs with bigger caches, BigMemory increases application speed while also reducing the cost and complexity of operating and scaling applications.
