Replicated Cache
I see log messages about SoftReferences. What are these about and how do I stop getting the messages?
Ehcache uses SoftReferences with asynchronous RMI-based replication, so that replicating caches do not run out of memory if the network is interrupted. Elements scheduled for replication will be collected instead. If this is happening, you will see warning messages from the replicator. It is also possible that a SoftReference can be reclaimed during the sending, in which case you will see a debug level message in the receiving CachePeer. Some things you can do to fix them:
Set -Xms equal to -Xms. SoftReferences are also reclaimed in preference to increasing the heap size, which is a problem when an application is warming up.
Set the -Xmx to a high enough value so that SoftReferences do not get reclaimed.
Having done the above, SoftReferences will then only be reclaimed if there is some interruption to replication and the message queue gets dangerously high.