Resource Partitioning in a Java Operating Environment

Managing the partitioning of resources between uncooperating applications is a fundamental requirement of an operating environment. Traditional operating environments only manage low-level resources which presents an impedance mismatch for internet-facing applications with service levels defined in terms of application-level transactions. The Multi-tasking Virtual Machine (MVM) and associated Resource Management API (RM) provide basic mechanisms for managing multiple applications within a Java operating environment. RM separates mechanism and policy and takes the unusual position of delegating rate-based management of resources to the policy level. This report describes the design and implementation of policies that provide flexible resource partitioning among applications and shows their effectiveness using microbenchmarks and an application level benchmark. The latter demonstrates the partitioning of an application-specific resource among a set of application instances using exactly the same policies as used for machine-level resources.