Modern Java applications power mission-critical systems, from enterprise apps to large-scale e-commerce platforms. But with growing complexity in codebases, threads, and distributed services, monitoring Java applications has become crucial to ensure optimal performance and prevent downtime.
ManageEngine Applications Manager helps you monitor Java applications, JVM health, and memory usage in real time, so you can detect performance issues early, optimize resource consumption, and deliver smooth end-user experiences.
Java application monitoring is the process of tracking key performance metrics and runtime behavior of Java-based applications and the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). It provides insights into how your application performs under different loads, identifies bottlenecks in code or resource utilization, and helps maintain consistent performance.
By using a dedicated Java monitoring tool, IT teams can:
At the heart of every Java application lies the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), the runtime environment that executes Java bytecode. Understanding its components is essential for effective monitoring.
A JVM typically comprises:
Each of these components affects how your Java application behaves under load. Monitoring JVM performance metrics helps you identify issues like excessive garbage collection, memory leaks, and thread contention, all of leading to sluggish performance or crashes.
To truly understand the health, stability, and performance of your Java applications, it's essential to track the right JVM and application-level KPIs. Here are the core metric categories that matter:
Efficient memory usage is at the heart of JVM performance. Monitoring memory helps teams prevent slowdowns, optimize resource allocation, and avoid costly outages caused by memory leaks or inefficient garbage collection.
Includes:
Threads directly impact concurrency and application responsiveness. Keeping an eye on thread health helps detect bottlenecks, stuck threads, or deadlocks before they impact end-users.
Includes:
High CPU usage or excessive load can degrade performance and slow down request processing. Tracking these metrics helps teams quickly identify resource contention, scaling needs, or inefficient code paths.
Includes:
These metrics tie JVM performance directly to real user experience. Monitoring them provides clarity on how your application behaves under varying loads and helps pinpoint issues in business transactions.
Includes:
Applications Manager automatically collects, correlates, and visualizes all these metrics, giving you a complete 360° view of your Java environment, whether deployed on-premises, in containers, or on the cloud.
Memory management plays a pivotal role in Java application stability. The JVM heap memory is divided into generations (Young, Old, and Permanent/Metaspace), and each serves a specific purpose.
Poor memory management or unmonitored memory growth can result in OutOfMemoryErrors, frequent garbage collection cycles, or application hangs.
By correlating memory data with response times and CPU usage, you can pinpoint inefficiencies before they impact performance.
Memory leaks are one of the most common causes of performance degradation in Java applications. A leak occurs when objects remain referenced in memory even after they’re no longer needed, preventing the garbage collector from reclaiming that space.
Applications Manager's memory leak detection capabilities help you:
These insights allow you to fine-tune JVM configurations, adjust heap sizes, and improve overall stability.
Effective Java performance monitoring goes hand-in-hand with good memory management. Here are some best practices to ensure a healthy JVM:
With Applications Manager, you can automate much of this process, using intelligent baselines, anomaly detection, and historical trend analysis to guide tuning decisions.
Setting up Java application monitoring with Applications Manager is quick and code-free.
Simply add your Java application or JVM instance, and Applications Manager automatically discovers performance metrics using built-in agents or JMX.
Get unified dashboards that show memory, threads, GC, and transaction performance at a glance.
Receive alerts for abnormal spikes or degradation. Generate detailed performance reports to share with teams.
Drill down from high-level performance views to detailed traces, logs, and method-level execution details for faster troubleshooting.
Integrate seamlessly with ServiceNow, PagerDuty, Slack, and more to enhance collaboration and incident response.
Whether you're running Tomcat, JBoss, WebLogic, WebSphere, or standalone JVM applications, Applications Manager helps you maintain consistent performance and reliability.
Eliminate blind spots in your Java ecosystem. Gain end-to-end visibility into application performance, memory usage, and JVM behavior, all from a single, intuitive platform.
Try ManageEngine Applications Manager free for 30 days
Empower your team with smarter Java monitoring and faster performance insights.
It allows us to track crucial metrics such as response times, resource utilization, error rates, and transaction performance. The real-time monitoring alerts promptly notify us of any issues or anomalies, enabling us to take immediate action.
Reviewer Role: Research and Development
"I like Applications Manager because it helps us to detect issues present in our servers and SQL databases."
Carlos Rivero
Tech Support Manager, Lexmark
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