Class data sharing between JVMs

Class data sharing enables multiple JVMs to share a single space in memory.

You can share class data between Java™ Virtual Machines (JVMs) by storing it in a memory-mapped cache file on disk.

Sharing reduces the overall virtual storage consumption when more than one JVM shares a cache. Sharing also reduces the startup time for a JVM after the cache has been created.

The shared class cache is independent of any running JVM and persists until it is deleted.

A shared cache can contain:
  • Bootstrap classes
  • Application classes
  • Metadata that describes the classes
  • Ahead-of-time (AOT) compiled code