[wolfc]

The thread local pool is designed to be used by a pool of threads. Because the pool of threads already limits the amount of instances that can be created the thread local pool doesn't need any multi-threading synchronizations. So the effective throughput is the highest possible.

The strict max pool will make certain only a limited set of instances are created.

Most call originate from a pool of threads (remoting pool, servlet thread pool), so using the thread local pool is best.

However for example the old EJB timer service creates a new thread per callback, so then you would need to use the strict max pool.

In this case the thread local pool should suffice.

[vkopichenko]

Thanks for the explanation on thread local pool.

Just a note for those who's currently bound to old versions of JBoss.

The irony is that until EJBTHREE-2147 fixed in some version of JBoss AS 6 the ThreadlocalPool had much more synchronization overhead than StrictMaxPool.

And thanks for fixing this, Carlo.

[vkopichenko]

Here is a way to externalize MDB maxSession property out of ear:

https://community.jboss.org/message/639955#639955

[uh_69]

Additional information can be found here:

4.6. Message Driven Beans