Configuring data grids to use eXtreme data format (XDF)

[Version 8.6 and later]If you are using an enterprise data grid, you must enable XDF so that both Java™ and .NET can access the same data grid objects. Use XDF to serialize and store keys and values in the data grid in a language-independent format.

Before you begin

Enable IBM® eXtremeIO (XIO) in the environment. For more information, see Configuring IBM eXtremeIO (XIO).

About this task

Enable eXtreme Data Format (XDF) to store serialized objects in a language independent manner. XDF is now the default serialization technology that is used when you are running XIO and have a map copy mode that is set to COPY_TO_BYTES. When you enable this feature, Java and C# objects can share data in the same data grid. You can set XDF mode for installations of WebSphere® eXtreme Scale in a stand-alone environment and for installations of WebSphere eXtreme Scale within a WebSphere Application Server environment.
When you use XDF, you get the following benefits:
  • Serialization of the data for sharing between Java, and C#/.NET applications.
  • Indexing data on the server without requiring the user classes to be present, if field access is used.
  • Automatic versioning of your classes so you can augment the class definitions when you add applications that require newer versions of the files. Older versions of the data can be used by taking advantage of the Mergable interface.
  • Partitioning of the data with annotations in Java and C# to consistently partition from the application.
Restriction: You cannot use XDF if your data grids have EntityMetadata defined.

Procedure

In the ObjectGrid descriptor XML file, set the CopyMode attribute to XDF in the backingMap element of the ObjectGrid descriptor XML file. 
<backingMap name="Employee" lockStrategy="PESSIMISTIC" copyMode="COPY_TO_BYTES">

What to do next

Develop applications that can share data. For more information, see Developing enterprise data grid applications.