Distributed object sharing for cluster-based Java virtual machine

Abstract

of thesis entitled “Distributed Object Sharing for Cluster-based Java Virtual Machine” submitted by Fang Weijian for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong in 2004 Java has already become one of the most popular programming languages since its debut. Recent advances in Java compilation and execution technologies have further pushed Java into the arena of high performance parallel and distributed computing. On the other hand, the computer cluster has gradually been accepted as a scalable and affordable parallel computing platform by both academia and industry in recent years. We were therefore inspired to design a cluster-based Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that can run unmodified multi-threaded Java applications on a computer cluster, where Java threads can be automatically distributed to different computer nodes to achieve high parallelism and leverage cluster-wide resources such as memory and network bandwidth. In a cluster-based JVM, the shared memory nature of Java threads calls for a global object space (GOS) that “virtualizes” a single Java object heap spanning the cluster to facilitate transparent distributed object sharing. The performance of the cluster-based JVM hinges on the GOS’s ability to minimize the communication and coordination overheads in maintaining the single object heap illusion.