diff --git a/.github/actions/prepare-for-docker-build/action.yml b/.github/actions/prepare-for-docker-build/action.yml
index d14cdca7dfd..26d8c80d509 100644
--- a/.github/actions/prepare-for-docker-build/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/prepare-for-docker-build/action.yml
@@ -30,11 +30,11 @@ runs:
         sudo apt-get update
         sudo apt-get install -y unixodbc-dev python3-venv librdkafka-dev gcc libsasl2-dev build-essential libssl-dev libffi-dev \
         librdkafka-dev unixodbc-dev libevent-dev wkhtmltopdf libkrb5-dev jq
-    - name: Set up JDK 17
+    - name: Set up JDK 21
       if: inputs.is_ingestion == 'false'
       uses: actions/setup-java@v4
       with:
-        java-version: 17
+        java-version: 21
         distribution: 'temurin'
 
     - name: Install antlr cli
diff --git a/.github/actions/setup-openmetadata-test-environment/action.yml b/.github/actions/setup-openmetadata-test-environment/action.yml
index f484ff5a158..1a13b097d74 100644
--- a/.github/actions/setup-openmetadata-test-environment/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/setup-openmetadata-test-environment/action.yml
@@ -26,10 +26,10 @@ runs:
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
     # ---- Setup Java --------------------------------------------------------------
-    - name: Setup JDK 17
+    - name: Setup JDK 21
       uses: actions/setup-java@v4
       with:
-        java-version: '17'
+        java-version: '21'
         distribution: 'temurin'
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/airflow-apis-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/airflow-apis-tests.yml
index c0174ff11fb..cb0662d4986 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/airflow-apis-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/airflow-apis-tests.yml
@@ -62,10 +62,10 @@ jobs:
         ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
         fetch-depth: 0
 
-    - name: Set up JDK 17
+    - name: Set up JDK 21
       uses: actions/setup-java@v4
       with:
-        java-version: '17'
+        java-version: '21'
         distribution: 'temurin'
 
     - name: Set up Python 3.10
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker-openmetadata-server.yml b/.github/workflows/docker-openmetadata-server.yml
index 5955f4a8b5e..945d584b68b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker-openmetadata-server.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-openmetadata-server.yml
@@ -27,10 +27,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - name: Set up JDK 17
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
         uses: actions/setup-java@v4
         with:
-          java-version: 17
+          java-version: 21
           distribution: 'temurin'
 
       - name: Install antlr cli
diff --git a/.github/workflows/java-checkstyle.yml b/.github/workflows/java-checkstyle.yml
index da6d753414f..5513fdc35ec 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/java-checkstyle.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/java-checkstyle.yml
@@ -67,10 +67,10 @@ jobs:
         with:
           ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
 
-      - name: Set up JDK 17
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
         uses: actions/setup-java@v4
         with:
-          java-version: '17'
+          java-version: '21'
           distribution: 'temurin'
 
       - name: Run checkstyle
diff --git a/.github/workflows/maven-build.yml b/.github/workflows/maven-build.yml
index 79207e78ae5..f7a25aadfa0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/maven-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/maven-build.yml
@@ -84,11 +84,11 @@ jobs:
           restore-keys: |
             ${{ runner.os }}-maven-
  
-      - name: Set up JDK 17
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
         if: steps.cache-output.outputs.exit-code == 0
         uses: actions/setup-java@v4
         with:
-          java-version: '17'
+          java-version: '21'
           distribution: 'temurin'
 
       - name: Install Ubuntu dependencies
diff --git a/.github/workflows/maven-postgres-tests-build.yml b/.github/workflows/maven-postgres-tests-build.yml
index 76e9408639b..c4c2d6482a4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/maven-postgres-tests-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/maven-postgres-tests-build.yml
@@ -83,11 +83,11 @@ jobs:
           restore-keys: |
             ${{ runner.os }}-maven-
  
-      - name: Set up JDK 17
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
         if: steps.cache-output.outputs.exit-code == 0
         uses: actions/setup-java@v4
         with:
-          java-version: '17'
+          java-version: '21'
           distribution: 'temurin'
 
       - name: Install Ubuntu dependencies
diff --git a/.github/workflows/maven-sonar-build.yml b/.github/workflows/maven-sonar-build.yml
index ff06693ef13..4509938da6d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/maven-sonar-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/maven-sonar-build.yml
@@ -70,11 +70,11 @@ jobs:
           restore-keys: |
             ${{ runner.os }}-maven-
 
-      - name: Set up JDK 17
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
         if: steps.cache-output.outputs.exit-code == 0
         uses: actions/setup-java@v4
         with:
-          java-version: "17"
+          java-version: "21"
           distribution: "temurin"
 
       - name: Install Ubuntu dependencies
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-maven-package.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-maven-package.yml
index 02e92be065b..5583a7f69b5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-maven-package.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-maven-package.yml
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ jobs:
           swap-storage: true
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - name: Set up JDK 17
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
         uses: actions/setup-java@v4
         with:
-          java-version: 17
+          java-version: 21
           distribution: "temurin"
           server-id: ossrh
           server-username: MAVEN_USERNAME
diff --git a/.github/workflows/py-nox-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/py-nox-ci.yml
index c3801d420c4..0fb0a3584e0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/py-nox-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/py-nox-ci.yml
@@ -31,10 +31,10 @@ jobs:
           sudo apt-get update
           sudo apt-get install -y libkrb5-dev build-essential
 
-      - name: Setup JDK 17
+      - name: Setup JDK 21
         uses: actions/setup-java@v4
         with:
-          java-version: '17'
+          java-version: '21'
           distribution: 'temurin'
 
       - name: Generate Python Data Models
diff --git a/.github/workflows/security-scan.yml b/.github/workflows/security-scan.yml
index dfe6fc1e3c4..306f11c4361 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/security-scan.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/security-scan.yml
@@ -41,10 +41,10 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: 3.9
 
-      - name: Set up JDK 17
+      - name: Set up JDK 21
         uses: actions/setup-java@v4
         with:
-          java-version: '17'
+          java-version: '21'
           distribution: 'temurin'
 
       - name: Install Ubuntu dependencies
diff --git a/.github/workflows/selenium-noIngestion-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/selenium-noIngestion-tests.yml
index ccaa8918f61..f14f4c790a1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/selenium-noIngestion-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/selenium-noIngestion-tests.yml
@@ -46,10 +46,10 @@ jobs:
           docker-images: true
           swap-storage: true      
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-    - name: Set up JDK 17
+    - name: Set up JDK 21
       uses: actions/setup-java@v4
       with:
-        java-version: '17'
+        java-version: '21'
         distribution: 'temurin'
 
     - name: Generating Data Models
diff --git a/bin/openmetadata-server-start.sh b/bin/openmetadata-server-start.sh
index 34237f7d94b..b4ff868a717 100644
--- a/bin/openmetadata-server-start.sh
+++ b/bin/openmetadata-server-start.sh
@@ -96,21 +96,16 @@ if [ "x$OPENMETADATA_DEBUG" != "x" ]; then
     OPENMETADATA_OPTS="$JAVA_DEBUG_OPTS $OPENMETADATA_OPTS"
 fi
 
-# GC options
+# GC options for Java 21
 GC_LOG_FILE_NAME='openmetadata-gc.log'
 if [ -z "$OPENMETADATA_GC_LOG_OPTS" ]; then
-  JAVA_MAJOR_VERSION=$($JAVA -version 2>&1 | sed -E -n 's/.* version "([0-9]*).*$/\1/p')
-  if [[ "$JAVA_MAJOR_VERSION" -ge "9" ]] ; then
-    OPENMETADATA_GC_LOG_OPTS="-Xlog:gc*:file=$LOG_DIR/$GC_LOG_FILE_NAME:time,tags:filecount=10,filesize=102400"
-  else
-    OPENMETADATA_GC_LOG_OPTS="-Xloggc:$LOG_DIR/$GC_LOG_FILE_NAME -verbose:gc -XX:+PrintGCDetails -XX:+PrintGCDateStamps -XX:+PrintGCTimeStamps -XX:+UseGCLogFileRotation -XX:NumberOfGCLogFiles=10 -XX:GCLogFileSize=100M"
-  fi
+  OPENMETADATA_GC_LOG_OPTS="-Xlog:gc*,gc+heap=info,gc+ergo=debug:file=$LOG_DIR/$GC_LOG_FILE_NAME:time,level,tags:filecount=10,filesize=102400"
 fi
 
 
-# JVM performance options
+# JVM performance options optimized for Java 21
 if [ -z "$OPENMETADATA_JVM_PERFORMANCE_OPTS" ]; then
-  OPENMETADATA_JVM_PERFORMANCE_OPTS="-server -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=20 -XX:InitiatingHeapOccupancyPercent=35 -XX:+ExplicitGCInvokesConcurrent -Djava.awt.headless=true"
+  OPENMETADATA_JVM_PERFORMANCE_OPTS="-server -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:+UseStringDeduplication -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=20 -XX:InitiatingHeapOccupancyPercent=35 -XX:+ExplicitGCInvokesConcurrent -XX:+UseLargePages -XX:+OptimizeStringConcat -XX:+UseCompressedOops -XX:+UseCompressedClassPointers -Djava.awt.headless=true"
 fi
 
 #Application classname
diff --git a/docker/development/Dockerfile b/docker/development/Dockerfile
index 68535876503..4b77b240341 100644
--- a/docker/development/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/development/Dockerfile
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ EXPOSE 8585
 RUN adduser -D openmetadata && \
     apk update && \
     apk upgrade && \
-    apk add --update --no-cache bash openjdk17-jre
+    apk add --update --no-cache bash openjdk21-jre
 
 COPY --chown=openmetadata:openmetadata --from=build /opt/openmetadata /opt/openmetadata
 COPY --chmod=755 docker/openmetadata-start.sh /
diff --git a/docker/docker-compose-quickstart/Dockerfile b/docker/docker-compose-quickstart/Dockerfile
index 4a2f0991ab6..29fb8e225f2 100644
--- a/docker/docker-compose-quickstart/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/docker-compose-quickstart/Dockerfile
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ LABEL org.open-metadata.commit-id=$COMMIT_ID
 EXPOSE 8585 8586
 RUN adduser -D openmetadata && apk update && \
     apk upgrade && \
-    apk add --update --no-cache bash openjdk17-jre
+    apk add --update --no-cache bash openjdk21-jre
 
 COPY --chown=openmetadata:openmetadata --from=build /opt/openmetadata /opt/openmetadata
 COPY --chmod=755 docker/openmetadata-start.sh ./
diff --git a/openmetadata-clients/openmetadata-java-client/pom.xml b/openmetadata-clients/openmetadata-java-client/pom.xml
index 006eb18a5a9..549d7f05a9f 100644
--- a/openmetadata-clients/openmetadata-java-client/pom.xml
+++ b/openmetadata-clients/openmetadata-java-client/pom.xml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
     <artifactId>openmetadata-java-client</artifactId>
     <properties>
-        <java.version>17</java.version>
+        <java.version>21</java.version>
         <maven.compiler.source>${java.version}</maven.compiler.source>
         <maven.compiler.target>${java.version}</maven.compiler.target>
         <springfox-version>2.7.0</springfox-version>
diff --git a/openmetadata-clients/pom.xml b/openmetadata-clients/pom.xml
index a6e588d1549..d0b82131174 100644
--- a/openmetadata-clients/pom.xml
+++ b/openmetadata-clients/pom.xml
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
         <module>openmetadata-java-client</module>
     </modules>
     <properties>
-        <maven.compiler.source>17</maven.compiler.source>
-        <maven.compiler.target>17</maven.compiler.target>
+        <maven.compiler.source>21</maven.compiler.source>
+        <maven.compiler.target>21</maven.compiler.target>
     </properties>
 
     <profiles>
diff --git a/openmetadata-spec/pom.xml b/openmetadata-spec/pom.xml
index 2fcd61943aa..a37d249d7f8 100644
--- a/openmetadata-spec/pom.xml
+++ b/openmetadata-spec/pom.xml
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@
     <artifactId>openmetadata-spec</artifactId>
 
     <properties>
-        <maven.compiler.source>17</maven.compiler.source>
-        <maven.compiler.target>17</maven.compiler.target>
+        <maven.compiler.source>21</maven.compiler.source>
+        <maven.compiler.target>21</maven.compiler.target>
         <dropwizard.swagger.version>2.0.12-1</dropwizard.swagger.version>
         <maven-javadoc-plugin.version>3.6.0</maven-javadoc-plugin.version>
         <maven-source-plugin.version>3.3.1</maven-source-plugin.version>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 3bd80084a4e..5c2493c46e9 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -915,8 +915,8 @@
           <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
           <version>3.13.0</version>
           <configuration>
-            <source>17</source>
-            <target>17</target>
+            <source>21</source>
+            <target>21</target>
             <annotationProcessorPaths>
               <path>
                 <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>