With a linked reference, the container can enforce a colocality constraint and the link is resolved at deployment time.

If you use a "not" linked reference with jndi name, the jndi name is looked up and resolved at runtime. So while you might be able to use the "java:comp/env/..." prefix, it does not necessarily mean that your beans are in the same container (or jar) and therefore you will not get the performance benefits you are looking for.

The safest way to enforce local calls is use ejb links. If you are using multiple jars, then package them in an ear in which case you can still define ejb links between beans in different jars.

If you use a co-located naming service with the ejbcontainer, then normal jndi lookups will also return beans in the same container/vm.
2001-Sep-05 9:45am gyles19@visi.com