HttpSession replication and server state saving

Question

The UIComponent class is not serializable, certainly because it is the StateManager which is responsible of saving its state.
But the default server state manager of the RI stores the whole component tree in the HttpSession. That means that it won't work in clustered environments where the session has to be serialized for replication between servers.
Will this be addressed in the final release ?

Answer 1

E> This seems like a really BIG hole that Sun should fill very quickly!
Thanks for your input. Note: spec is intentionally very vague about the
specifics of state saving, except to say that the implementation must
support two options: client and server. Therefore, any solution
implemented in the Sun RI will likely be specific to that RI. Perhaps
we can consider standardizing the approach to clustering in a future
version of the spec.
E> I came across this thread because I am testing the viability of using
E> JSF in a JBoss clustered environment (and began getting serialization
E> errors when I add the <distributable/> stanza to my web.xml file). I
E> am probably not alone in my discomfort at having to replace a core
E> JSF class with a "patch" just to get session replication to work. Why
E> can't you or someone at Sun provide the resolution? All, that aside
E> you a JSF expert at least provide detailed specifics as to how the
E> proposed fix can be implemented by corporate JSF developers?
Here's one very important aspect of application architecture that I'm
surprised hasn't been pointed out before. Your application should be
designed such that the all user state resides OUTSIDE of the JSF
realm, and can therefore be made highly available by virtue of being
stored in something that does support HA. JSF UI state should mostly be
in request scope anyway. This is why we spent so much time on the
ValueBinding API.
E> Hope to see you at JavaOne (with more questions of
E> course)!
Yes, the entire Sun RI team, and several key EG members will be
available at BOF-2220
<http://www.javaone04.com/catalog/catalog/sessionDetail.jsp?hd=true&SESSION_ID=10589&form=searchform>.
Tuesday 29 June 2004 7:30 pm.
Ed (EG Member)