Efficient Implementations of Remote Method Invocation Considering Object Consistency

Java-based distributed applications generally use RMI (remote method invocation) for accessing remote objects. When used in wide-area environment, the performance of such applications can be poor because of the high latency of RMI. This latency can be reduced by caching objects at the client node. However, the use of caching introduces other issues, including the expense of caching the objects as well as the expense of managing the consistency of the object. This paper presents two techniques for managing the consistency of the object caching in Java RMI-based distributed applications. The first technique compares the cached time of the object in the client with the modified time of the object in the server. In the second technique the server broadcasts invalid message to the clients. Using these techniques, the system designer can select the caching and consistency strategy, the most appropriate for the application. The paper illustrates the benefits of using these techniques to improve the performance of RMI applications