The latest version of Terracotta, an open source Java clustering framework, supports GlassFish application server, Spring framework and new features like Automated High Availability Mode, Improved Distributed Garbage Collector (DGC) Performance and Visibility, and Cluster-Wide Runtime Statistics. Terracotta development team announced last week the availability of Terracotta 2.7 version.

The new release, which is a follow-on release to Terracotta 2.6, adds support for Spring (versions 2.0.8 and 2.5.4) and Glassfish server (version 2.1). Other new features in version 2.7 include:

Automated High Availability Mode: This feature enables Terracotta server run in an automated restart mode that can be used to automatically back up the cluster data for forensic purposes. This ensures the safety and integrity of clustered data and makes the failover and restart operations easier. Terracotta server cluster can be configured to run in ACTIVE-PASSIVE mode. In this mode, one server runs in ACTIVE mode servicing requests from the clients and one or more servers run in PASSIVE mode acting as a hot standby for the ACTIVE server in case of a failure.

Improved Distributed Garbage Collector (DGC) Performance and Visibility: The distributed garbage collector has been updated to use a generational collection algorithm which provides improvements in GC performance. Generational collectors, which were first introduced in Java 1.4, provide improvements in application performance with little to no overhead. The distributed generational garbage collector in Terracotta server also helps with the throughput in Java applications.

Cluster-Wide Runtime Statistics: Terracotta users can now view and monitor all cluster-related statistics in a single page that provides information on runtime statistics including CPU, heap utilization and transaction rates as well as cache miss, object flush and object fault rates. The cluster visibility features were first introduced in Terracotta 2.6 version.

Certified Patch Process: The new release accepts certified hot patches for systems running in production environment, enabling customers to install them without having to shut down their applications. This avoids any downtime that can occur during a full upgrade maintenance cycle.

Online (Hot) Backup Support: Terracotta introduces a new feature called hot backup feature which helps Web Administrators and Operators to ensure that all Terracotta data files are safely backed up for later restoration. Hot backup features can be used from Terracotta Administrator Console.

Terracotta Integration Module (TIM) Update Center is another new feature that helps the administrators with tasks like managing dependencies of the integration modules, matching release versions, and setting correct configuration and installation options.

In the new release, tc.properties file which is used for controlling throughput tuning settings can be configured with other existing Terracotta settings in the tc-config.xml. Terracotta also has Eclipse integration with the plugin. Release 2.7 is available for download on Terracotta community website after joining the developer community by registering on their website.

More InfoQ coverage on Terracotta clustering framework can be found here.