So, let's bash the JVM.

It's rigid. It's non-elastic. It's fixed in its limited size. It can't dynamically scale up or down. It's heavily constrained by the OS.

It's inefficient. It's unstable under a heavy load. It's garbage collection process can freeze the system for ten to fifteen non-stop seconds at the most inconvenient of times, and the only way to avoid this is by configuring small JVMs with a minimal amount of memory allotted to them (4 gigs?). Get yourself a server with a few terabytes of memory, and you've got an unmanageable number of JVMs configured to eat all of that up. And it even gets worse if you're supporting your own private cloud.

But there is a solution. It's an Azul solution. You see, the big brains at Azul have put a zinger of a solution together that will help you virtualize your Java runtime, and avoid those nasty problems associated with running Java based applications on massive pieces of hardware. And what's the solution called? Well, it's called Zing.

With Zing, you can virtualize your environment, allowing you to elastically scale your applications up and down; with Zing, you can now effectively use that massive chunk of hardware that's currently hosting a million little JVMs; and of course, all of this greatly simplifies the process of deployment and configuration.

There's a few pieces to the Zing puzzle. You've got a Zing Virtual Machine that does your transparent virtualization. There're the Zing Virtual Appliances that provide you with elastic and scalable capacity, there's the Zing Resource Controller, which provides management and monitoring facilities, and finally, there's the Zing Vision, which is a built in application profiling tool. 

Here are just a few of the reasons why Zing will be making a big splash in the Java industry in the next little while:

•An Optimized Runtime Platform

?More effective use of resources (10s of cores, 100s of GBs)
?Scales smoothly over a wide range (from 1 GB to 1 TB)
?Greater stability, resiliency and operating range

•Record-breaking Scalability
?Completely eliminates GC-related barriers
?Practical support for 100x larger heaps (e.g. 200-500+ GBs)
?Sustain 100x higher throughput and allocation rates

•Simplified Java App Deployments
?Better app stability with fewer, more robust JVMs
?Zero-overhead runtime visibility ?Application-aware resource control 

You can find out more by reading Azul's press release:

Azul Systems® Announces ZingTM, the Industry’s First Elastic Runtime Platform for Java Applications

Virtualizing your Java Runtime Environment

www.azulsystems.com

https://www.theserverside.com/feature/Tackling-the-Garbage-Collection-Problem-of-the-Java-Virtual-Machine

Of course it's free to evaluate and test for a sensible amount of time, or is it?

From my perspective Azul is a very interesting solution to the most important JVM-related issues but cannot be perceived as the ultimate problem-solver.

It's nice to know there's yet another option but as with JavaRebel - start using it and you will find yourself in a serious vendor lock-in situation in no time.

Our experience shows it is possible to build up huge, complex heterogenous infrastructures based on standard, open and freely available appliances which does not impose any third-party vendor depencency.

I prefer to address vast Java community in seeking for solutions and answers rather than relying on (even platinum grade) support provided by a single company that might some day migrate all its support to Bangalore, India.

I'm not sure if this addresses all of your concerns but Azul just open-sourced some of their proprietary technologies:

http://www.managedruntime.org/

Indeed, the Zing solution is an Azul solution, but the managed runtime initiative by Azul also holds a great deal of promise for solving this very issue as well. And the managed runtime initiative isn't proprietary. Check it out!

I had no idea about this. Great initiative; I'm checking it out!

Here's some info on Azul's Open Source initiative, along with more information on the garbage collection issue with the Java Virtual Machine (JVM)

Azul: Fixing What's Wrong with the Java Virtual Machine

https://www.theserverside.com/feature/Tackling-the-Garbage-Collection-Problem-of-the-Java-Virtual-Machine

Break barries in Java application performance, and great open source initiative, http://www.managedruntime.org

Let's bash this Site and this News-Post: Years ago TheServerSide.com was a valuable source for Enterprise Java. But more and more it becomes a platform for advertising and propaganda in the form of articles and posts.

Let me say: I love Java and the JVM and their GC is doing a great job. No need to bash them for introducing a new commercial product!

ready to boycot all products that don't give pricing on their web site.

very lame

no pricing == very expensive

Does this mean that this platform can help reduce frequent lock contention costs, improve thread scheduling, suspension/interuption etc etc...?