NCache is an in-memory caching solution by Alachisoft that improves application scalability and performance by reducing database trips and storing frequently accessed data in memory to provide better performance. It is also used to cache session data in web farms.

1. Alachisoft
.NET Performance Solutions
Scaling .NET Apps
with
In-Memory Distributed Cache
Boost app performance under peak loads!
Iqbal Khan
iqbal@alachisoft.com Ph: +1 (925) 236-2125
www.alachisoft.com
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2. Alachisoft
What is Scalability?
Ability to increase
transaction load on applications…
without slowing them down
NCache
www.alachisoft.com
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3. Alachisoft
What is Linear (Unlimited) Scalability?
NCache
www.alachisoft.com
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4. Alachisoft
Following Applications Need Scalability
1.
ASP.NET Apps

2.
WCF & .NET Web Services

3.
To quickly process very large amounts of data thru distribution
Grid Computing Apps

5.
To handle millions of requests
Big Data Apps

4.
To handle millions of users
To process very large computations thru distribution
Other .NET Server Apps

NCache
To handle millions of requests
www.alachisoft.com
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5. Alachisoft
What is the Scalability Problem?
1.
Application Architectures can Scale Linearly

2.
Use a load balancer and simply add more app servers
Data Storage has Scalability Bottlenecks!


NCache
Cannot handle high transaction loads
Cannot keep adding database servers
www.alachisoft.com
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6. Alachisoft
Data Storage is Scalability Bottleneck
ASP.NET/WCF Example
App Database
ASP.NET/WCF Servers
Database Servers
Data Access
Scale Web Farm
Web Clients
Http Calls
...
NCache
Load Balancer
www.alachisoft.com
ASP.NET Session
Storage
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7. Alachisoft
The Solution
Scalable In-Memory Distributed Cache
NCache
NCache
www.alachisoft.com
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8. Alachisoft
What is an In-Memory Distributed Cache?
1.
Cluster of multiple inexpensive cache servers

2.
Synchronizes cache updates across all cache servers

3.
Cache updates are immediately visible from all cache servers
Linearly scales transaction & memory capacity

4.
Pools their memory and CPU into one logical capacity
Just add more cache servers to grow capacity
Replicates data for reliability

NCache
Intelligent replication without compromising performance & scalability
www.alachisoft.com
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9. Alachisoft
NCache: In-Memory Distributed Cache
ASP.NET Web Apps
WCF Web Services
Grid Computing Apps
(.NET)
.NET Server Apps
Distributed Cache Cluster
Memory pooled from all cache servers
Scale Horizontally
Windows 2008/2012 (64-bit)
Filesystem
NCache
Database Servers
www.alachisoft.com
Mainframe
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10. Alachisoft
Three Common Uses of Distributed Cache
1.
App Data Caching (for Database Bottlenecks)


2.
Reliable & Scalable Cache for ASP.NET Specific Data



3.
In-memory cache faster than database
Cache linearly scalable which database is not
ASP.NET Session State storage (most common)
ASP.NET View State cache
ASP.NET Output Cache provider
Scalable Runtime Data Sharing thru Messaging



NCache
Faster & more scalable than traditional message queues
Async data sharing in producer/consumer model
Powerful event notifications & continuous queries for app coordination
www.alachisoft.com
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11. Alachisoft
What Data to Cache?
1.
Permanent Data


2.
Transient (temporary) Data

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
3.
Data goes away after a short period (minutes, hours, or days)
No need to keep it in database
ASP.NET Session State, ASP.NET View State, ASP.NET Output Cache
Reference Data


4.
Master copy of data exists in the database
Caching it reduces expensive database trips
Does not change very frequently (but is not static)
This is usually permanent data
Transactional Data

NCache
Changes frequently (as frequently as in a few seconds)
www.alachisoft.com
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12. Alachisoft
Overview of Caching API

Cache appears as a Hashtable-like interface


Each item has a string-based key and an “object” as its value.
String based keys contain type information



NCache
“Employee:1000”: Employee with EmployeeId = 1000
“Employee:Orders:1000”: Employee 1000’s related Order collection
“Employee:Query:FindByTitle:Mgr”: Employee collection returned by query “FindByTitle”
with “Mgr” as runtime parameter
www.alachisoft.com
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13. Alachisoft
Overview of Caching API

Connect & Disconnect from the Cache

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Read from the Cache

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cache.Add(“myKey”, obj);
cache.Insert(“myKey”, obj);
cache[“myKey”] = obj;
Remove from the Cache


object obj = cache.Get(“myKey”);
object obj = cache[“myKey”];
bool isPresent = cache.Contains(“myKey”);
Add to the Cache


Cache cache = NCache.InitializeCache(“myReplicatedCache”);
cache.Dispose();
object obj = cache.Remove(“myKey”);
Empty the Cache

NCache
cache.Clear();
www.alachisoft.com
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14. Alachisoft
Cache Elasticity (100% Uptime)
Dynamic Cache Cluster

TCP based Cache Cluster

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No single point of failure
Add/remove servers at runtime

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Does not use Windows Clustering
Peer to peer architecture

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Remote Clients (Web/App Servers)
Without stopping cache or your app
Data adjusted automatically based
on caching topology
Add
Server
At
Runtime
Hot Apply config changes

Cache Cluster
NCache Srv
NCache Srv
Remove
Server
At
Runtime
Change config properties while
cache is running
NCache Srv
NCache
www.alachisoft.com
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15. Alachisoft
Cache Elasticity (100% Uptime)
Dynamic Configuration

Cluster membership info


Propagate to clients at runtime
Cache topology info

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
Remote Clients (Web/App Servers)
Propagate to clients at runtime
Connection strategy at runtime
Cluster
Membership Info
Connection failover

Cache
Topology Info
Clients auto-connect to other servers
NCache Srv
NCache Srv
NCache Srv
Dynamic Cache Cluster
NCache
www.alachisoft.com
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16. Alachisoft
Caching Topologies
Mirrored Cache (2-node active/passive)

All clients connect to active node
Mirrored Cache
Remote Clients (Web/App Servers)


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Passive node becomes active if
active node goes down. Clients
also automatically connect to new
active node
Mirroring to passive node done
asynchronously
Recommended use:

Up to 10 app servers

2 cache server cluster
Server 1
1
3
Server 2
2
Active
5
1
4
3
6
2
Passive
(Backup)
5
4
6
Async Backup
NCache
www.alachisoft.com
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17. Alachisoft
Caching Topologies
Replicated Cache

Each server has the entire cache
Replicated Cache
Remote Clients (Web/App Servers)
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
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Cache updates done to all servers
synchronously. So, they’re slower.
Each clients connects to only one
cache server. All servers active.
Good for read-intensive scenarios
Server 1
1
3
Server 2
2
Active
5
1
4
6
3
2
Active
5
4
6
Synchronous Updates
NCache
www.alachisoft.com
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18. Alachisoft
Caching Topologies
Partitioned Cache

Extremely scalable
Partitioned Cache
Remote Clients (Web/App Servers)

Location transparency

Good for large cache clusters


Distribution map sent to all clients
at runtime
Distribution
Map
Distribution
Map
No replication available
Partition 1
1
2
Server 1
NCache
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Partition 2
3
4
Server 2
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19. Alachisoft
Caching Topologies
Partition-Replica Cache

Each partition has one replica on a
different server. All created
automatically.

Remote Clients (Web/App Servers)
Async & Sync replication options

Partition-Replica Cache
Extremely fast & scalable

Reliability due to replicas
Distribution
Map
Distribution
Map
Partition 1
1
2
Replica 2
3
4
Server 1
NCache
www.alachisoft.com
Partition 2
3
4
Replica 1
1
2
Server 2
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20. Alachisoft
Caching Topologies
Client Cache
NCache Client Nodes

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Local cache on client nodes (inprocess and out-of-process)
Automatically synchronizes with
clustered cache. Optimistic &
pessimistic synch options.
...
Web/App Server
(Client Node)
Web/App Server
(Client Node)
Client Cache
Client Cache
Synchronized
No special programming needed.
Plug in thru config changes.
Synchronized
Cache Cluster
Dynamic Clustered Cache
Server 1

Good for read-intensive scenarios
1
Server 2
2
3
1
5
2
5
4
6
3
6
4
Server 3
1
2
5
6
3
4
Cached Item
NCache
www.alachisoft.com
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21. Alachisoft
Caching Topologies
Performance Data
NCache Performance Benchmarks
NCache
www.alachisoft.com
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22. Alachisoft
WAN Replication of Distributed Cache
Active-Passive Configuration
Primary Site (Active)
Disaster Recovery Site
NCache Client Nodes
Remote Client
(.NET)
Remote Client
(.NET)
...
NCache Client Nodes
Remote Client
(Java)
Remote Client
(.NET)
Remote Client
(.NET)
Cache Cluster
Server 1
Server 2
.NET
Client
NCache
NCache
Server 1
Replicate (WAN)
Server 2
(Passive Mirror)
www.alachisoft.com
Java
Client
NCache
Server 1
(Active)
Server 2
.NET
Client
Bridge
Server 3
NCache
Remote Client
(Java)
Cache Cluster
Java
Client
NCache
...
NCache
Server 3
NCache
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23. Alachisoft
WAN Replication of Distributed Cache
1.
Active-Passive

2.
Hub-spoke

3.
One active and multiple passive
Active-Active

4.
One active and one passive
Two active sites
STAR

NCache
One central active site and multiple satellite active sites
www.alachisoft.com
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24. Alachisoft
Hands on Demo
NCache
www.alachisoft.com
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25. Alachisoft
Some Object Caching Features
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Expirations
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Locking (Pessimistic & Optimistic)
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Lock/Unlock for pessimistic locking (writer-lock)
Object versioning for optimistic locking (reader-lock)
Bulk Operations
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Absolute-time + idle-time
Auto-reload data on expiration (if read-thru enabled)
Bulk Get, Add, Insert, and Remove
Async Operations

NCache
Async Add, Insert, and Remove
www.alachisoft.com
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26. Alachisoft
Handling Relational Data in Cache

Cache Dependency

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Key based
One-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many


NCache
Let cache manage relationships for you
Cache invalidates related data when a cached item is updated/removed
www.alachisoft.com
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27. Alachisoft
Synchronize Cache with Data Sources

Synchronize with Relational Databases (SQL, Oracle, etc.)

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SqlDependency
OracleDependency
DbDependency
Synchronize with non-Relational Data Sources


NCache
File based Cache Dependency
Custom Cache Dependency
www.alachisoft.com
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28. Alachisoft
Data Grouping in the Cache

Group/Subgroup

Tags

Named Tags
NCache
www.alachisoft.com
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29. Alachisoft
Searching the Cache

Parallel Queries with Object Query Language (OQL)
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Parallel LINQ Queries
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SQL-like query language to search cache based on object attributes
Standard LINQ queries can search the cache
Indexing Object Attributes for Querying

NCache
Create indexes on object attributes to speed up queries
www.alachisoft.com
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30. Alachisoft
Read-thru, Write-thru, Write-behind

Read-through and write-through

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Write-behind
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You implement read-thru and write-thru handlers called by NCache
Write-through has write-behind option that queues up database updates
Database update queue replicated to multiple servers for reliability
Reload Items on Expiration or Db Sync

NCache
Use Read-thru to reload item from its data source instead of removing it
www.alachisoft.com
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31. Alachisoft
Runtime Data Sharing with Messaging

Key Based Event Notifications
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General Purpose Event Notifications
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Register interest to be notified at ALL add/insert/remove (off by default)
Custom Event Notifications

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Register interest in specific cached items to be notified at insert/remove
Register interest to be notified at ALL add/insert/remove (off by default)
Send custom notifications to other NCache clients (cluster wide)
Apps fire custom event notifications into NCache cluster
Other apps are notified
Continuous Queries Events


NCache
SQL-Like query to specify dataset
Event notifications fired when dataset changes in the cache cluster
www.alachisoft.com
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32. Alachisoft
Some Other Features

NHibernate L2 Cache Provider

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Entity Framework L2 Cache


Plug into NHibernate application without any code change
Plug into Entity Framework application without any code change
Dynamic Compact Serialization


NCache
Faster and more compact then regular .NET serialization
No code writing required
www.alachisoft.com
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33. Alachisoft
What to Do Next?




Find more about NCache
Download 60-day Trial
Request a Personalized LIVE Demo
Read product Documentation
Thank You
NCache 4.1
www.alachisoft.com
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