A distributed implementation of a virtual machine for Java

The cluster virtual machine (VM) for Java provides a single system image of a traditional Java Virtual Machine (JVM) while executing in a distributed fashion on the nodes of a cluster. The cluster VM for Java virtualizes the cluster, supporting any pure Java application without requiring that application be tailored specifically for it. The aim of our cluster VM is to obtain improved scalability for a class of Java Server Applications by distributing the application's work among the cluster's computing resources. The implementation of the cluster VM for Java is based on a novel object model which distinguishes between an application's view of an object (e.g. every object is a unique data structure) and its implementation (e.g. objects may have consistent replications on different nodes). This enables us to exploit knowledge on the use of individual objects to improve performance (e.g. using object replications to increase locality of access to objects).