Ok, I've been reading the docs on CacheLoaders. They seem like a promising solution. It looks to me like if I create my own CacheLoader implementation that sits on top of this virtual, infinite tree I'm describing, then that might do the trick. As my objects are requested out of this custom CacheLoader, I could instantiate them on demand. This custom CacheLoader could wrap around a FileCacheLoader instance for simple passivation capability. Sound reasonable? View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=3958840#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...