Create New Distributed Cache

Create a new Distributed Cache and Pub/Sub Messaging Cache through either the NCache Management Center or PowerShell. Distributed caches support Partitioned, Replicated, and Partition Replica topologies to deliver scalability, high availability, and fault tolerance for production environments. During cache creation, you can configure cache size, add server nodes, select eviction policies, enable encryption or compression, and configure auto-start options.

Prerequisites

Ensure the NCache Service is started. If it is not, do the following:

  • For .NET, type the following command in any Command Line Tool of your choice (run as admin):
Start-Service -Name NCacheSvc
  • For .NET Core, make sure that you run the NCache Service as an administrator. Here are the steps to do so:
    • Open the Services window and look for NCache in the list.
    • Right click on NCacheSvc from the list and choose Properties.
    • Go to the Log On tab and click on the Browse button.
    • In the object name field, type Administrator and click on the Check Names button.
    • It will pick the appropriate Administrator, then click OK.
    • Now, set a Password and click OK.
    • Right click on the NCache Service and choose the Restart option. Now your service will start running as administrator.

Using the NCache Management Center

  • Launch the NCache Management Center by browsing to http://localhost:8251 or <server-ip>:8251.

  • In the left navigation bar, click on Clustered Caches. This opens up the Clustered Caches page. It shows any existing clustered caches on your machine and additional details like Topology, Servers, and Server Platform.

  • To create a new distributed cache, click on New.

NCache Management Center showing the Clustered Caches page with an option to create a new distributed cache.

If you want to create a distributed cache:

  • From the In-Memory Store Type dropdown menu, select Distributed Cache and specify the name of your cache. Click Next.
Warning

If a cache with the specified name already exists, you are prompted with an error message.

Note

If you select Pub/Sub Messaging, follow the same configuration steps as Distributed Cache.

New Distributed Cache wizard displaying cache name and in-memory store type selection.

  • Select the caching topology and any advanced options like Operation timeout and Statistic replication interval. If you have selected the Partition-Replica Cache topology, you have to select a Replication Strategy, either Asynchronous or Synchronous. Click Next.

Distributed cache topology selection page showing partitioned, replicated, and partitioned-replica options with advanced settings.

  • Specify the Maximum Size of the cache, if required. You can also add cache nodes to the cluster by specifying the node IP address and clicking on the Add Node button. To add more nodes, click Add Node. Click Next once all the required nodes are added.
Warning

If a node is already registered on that cache, a notification is prompted.

Distributed cache configuration screen for specifying maximum cache size and adding server nodes to the cluster.

  • Change the Cluster Port and Port Range, if required. Click Next.

Cluster configuration page allowing customization of cluster port and port range for the distributed cache.

  • If you want to enable encryption and compression, select the Enable Encryption and Enable Compression checkboxes. If enabled, set the Provider and Key for encryption and Threshold Size for compression. Click Next.

Distributed cache security settings page with options to enable encryption and compression and configure related parameters.

  • On Advanced Options page, you can configure the following settings:

    • Eviction is enabled by default. You can configure the Eviction Policy accordingly. If you want to disable eviction, uncheck the checkbox Enable Eviction.

    • You can also change the Eviction percentage; items will be evicted from the cache using this percentage value if eviction is enabled.

    • You can change the Clean interval value. The default is 15 seconds.

    • This cache can be started automatically upon the completion of this process if you have selected the Start this cache on finish checkbox on this dialog box.

    • You can make the cache start automatically after service restart by selecting the Auto start this cache on service startup checkbox.

Advanced configuration page showing eviction policy settings, cleanup interval, and auto-start options for the distributed cache.

  • Click Finish. The created cache will appear on the Clustered Caches page with the server nodes and their status. A success notification will be received in the notification panel.

Using PowerShell

You can use PowerShell to manage distributed caches by using the NCache supported cmdlets. The New Cache cmdlet enables the user to create a new cache on one or more server nodes.

Distributed Cache

  • This command creates a distributed cache named demoClusteredCache of PartitionReplica topology of size 1024MB on server nodes 20.200.20.40 and 20.200.20.39. You can explicitly specify InMemoryStoreType as DistributedCache. If InMemoryStoreType is not specified, the command will create a distributed cache, since it is the default option.
New-Cache -Name demoClusteredCache -Server "20.200.20.40,20.200.20.39" \
          -Size 1024 -Topology PartitionReplica
  • This command creates a new distributed cache named demoCache on server 20.200.20.11 having the size of 1024 MB, topology as Partitioned, eviction policy set as priority based, default priority set as high, as well as eviction ratio set as 10%. The cleanup interval of the cache will be 20 seconds and port 7800.
New-Cache -Name demoCache -Server 20.200.20.11 \
          -Size 1024 -Topology Partitioned \
          -EvictionPolicy priority -DefaultPriority high \
          -EvictionRatio 10 -CleanupInterval 20 \
          -ClusterPort 7800
  • This command creates a new distributed cache named demoCache on servers 20.200.20.11 and 20.200.20.12 having size 1024 MB, topology replicated, and occupying the port 7800.
New-Cache -Name demoCache -Server "20.200.20.11,20.200.20.12" \
          -Size 1024 -Topology Replicated \
          -ClusterPort 7800
  • This command creates a new distributed cache named demoCache on server 20.200.20.11 with size 1024 MB using security credentials.
New-Cache -Name demoCache -Server 20.200.20.11 \
          -Size 1024 -Credentials(Get-Credential john_smith)

Distributed Pub/Sub Messaging Cache

  • In a similar way, you can create a Pub/Sub Messaging cache using the New Cache cmdlet. This command creates a cache named demoCache of PartitionReplica topology of size 1024MB with clean up interval of 20 sec, eviction policy set as priority based, default priority set as high, as well as eviction ratio set as 10%, occupying the port 7800 on server nodes 20.200.20.40 and 20.200.20.39.
New-Cache -Name demoCache -InMemoryStoreType PubSubMessaging \
          -Server "20.200.20.40,20.200.20.39" -Size 1024 \
          -Topology PartitionReplica -CleanupInterval 20 \
          -EvictionPolicy priority -DefaultPriority high \
          -EvictionRatio 10 -ClusterPort 7800

See Also

Start Cache
Add Server Node
Remove Cache
Clear Cache