Creating a new thread from a servlet class

[varocho]

Hello, everyone. I'm currently maintaining a Java Web application that allows the user to search across a number of different wikis. There is a requirement to perform a wiki availability check within a servlet (*) every so often, say every 30 minutes, and this check is being done by a class that extends the 'Thread' class. The Web application runs under Tomcat 6, and a co-worker suggested finding out about the following items:

1) Does the spawned thread have a time limit imposed by Tomcat?
2) Does it take up worker thread space from other Tomcat threads?

I'm guessing the answers are 'no' and 'yes', respectively, but if someone could give me definitive answers on these questions, or at least point me in the right direction, I'd greatly appreciate it.

(* This would be the servlet responsible for performing the search, as well as getting the next set of search results to display)

 

[Diancecht]

Hare you have some info about threads in Tomcat, and some hints:

1.- According to J2EE pure specification, an application shouldn't open threads
2.- You can define max idle time for a thread
3.- A thread consume resources so it affects other threads. Of course, each one has its own separate space

Cheers,
Dian