Getting Started with NCache Cloud on AWS (ASG)

This guide outlines the steps to deploy NCache Cloud on Amazon Web Services (AWS) using Auto Scaling Groups (ASG). The process covers subscribing to NCache Cloud, launching the deployment, creating the CloudFormation stack, and connecting to the instances for management.

Step 1: Subscribe and Launch NCache Cloud

To get started with NCache Cloud, follow these steps to subscribe and launch NCache Cloud from the AWS Marketplace:

  1. Open the AWS Marketplace.
  2. Search for NCache Cloud and select it from the search results. This will take you to the NCache Cloud product page.
  3. After reviewing the product offering, click View purchase options to proceed.
  4. On the Purchase options for NCache Cloud page, click Subscribe to subscribe to the product.
  5. Once subscribed, locate the Offer Summary section and click Launch your software to begin the deployment process.

For more details, refer to the Subscribe and Launch NCache Cloud page.

Step 2: Create CloudFormation Stack

After launching the service, the next step is to create the CloudFormation stack to provision NCache resources. Follow the steps below:

  1. You will be redirected to the Create Stack page in AWS CloudFormation.
  2. Select the template provided by AWS and proceed to the Specify stack details section. > [!NOTE] > AWS CloudFormation templates define the resources and configuration required for deployment.
  3. Enter a Stack Name and specify the Environment Details including the environment name, type, and the number of NCache servers.
  4. Review the VPC, Subnet, and Public IP Address options for your deployment.
  5. After specifying all required parameters, click Next to proceed to Configure Stack Options and then click Review and Create to submit.

For full instructions, refer to the Create Stack page.

Step 3: Connect to the Instance

After successfully creating the CloudFormation stack, the next step is to connect to one of the deployed instances to access and manage your NCache environment.

  1. In the AWS Console, navigate to CloudFormation → Stacks.
  2. Under the Resources tab, locate the NCacheAutoScalingGroup resource and click on the Physical ID.
  3. Select the Auto Scaling Group associated with your deployment. From the Instance management tab, click on an Instance ID.
  4. On the Instance Summary page, click Connect to access the RDP Client tab.
  5. Click Get password, enter the EC2 key pair contents, and decrypt the password.
  6. After retrieving the password, download the remote desktop file and use the password to connect.

For full details, refer to the Connect to Instance page.

Step 4: Create Distributed Cache

Once connected to an instance through RDP, you can create a 2-Node Partition-Replica cache in the NCache Management Center by following these steps:

  1. Launch the NCache Management Center at http://localhost:8251.
  2. In the left navigation pane, go to Clustered Caches, and click on New.
  3. On the In-Memory Store page, select Distributed Cache as the cache type and specify a name for your cache. Then, click Next.
  4. Choose the Partition-Replica caching topology and a Replication Strategy. Click Next.
  5. Add two server nodes by specifying the Server Node IP/Name for each. Click Next once all required nodes have been added. > [!WARNING] > If a cache with the same name already exists on a node, you cannot create another cache with the same name.
  6. Continue with the default Cluster Port and Port Range, accepting any other pre-selected settings.
  7. Enable auto-start for the cache, ensuring that it starts automatically when the service starts or when the cache is created. Click Finish to create the 2-node cache cluster.
Note

For more information about the available options during the cache creation process, refer to the NCache Administrator's Guide. Alternatively, you can also create a distributed cache using PowerShell tools.

Step 5: Add Client

A client can be either a local or remote web or application server. You can add it using the NCache Management Center. The process for adding a client to the cache cluster is the same for all store types. This section uses the example of the Distributed Cache store type.

  1. On the Clustered Caches page, click on View Details for the appropriate Cache Name.
  2. This opens the detailed configuration page for the cache. In the Client Nodes tab, click Add and enter the Client Node IP/Name.
  3. This will connect your application server to the cache cluster.

Step 6: Test the Cluster

You can test the cluster using the NCache Management Center as follows:

  1. In the NCache Management Center, click the "..." button next to your cache and select Show Statistics.
  2. Set the Test-Stress timer to 1 minute. This is the period for which data will be added to the cache, and after the specified expiration time, the data will be removed.
  3. Click the Start button next to the timer to begin seeing live cache activity on the Server Dashboard.

Step 7: Monitor Cluster

After completing the stress test, you must monitor your cluster to ensure stable performance. NCache provides a multi-layered monitoring system to track both system resources and cache operations. Use the NCache Management Center through Monitoring Dashboards and Tabular Statistics:

  1. In the NCache Management Center, click the "..." button next to your cache name and select Monitor Cluster. Ensure the cache is running.

  2. NCache opens three real-time dashboards in a new tab:

    • Server Dashboard: Displays graphical views of cluster health, event logs, and important server-side metrics like CPU usage, cache size, and requests per second.
    • Client Dashboard: Shows client-side resource usage and specific metrics such as Read/Write Operations per second and Average Item Size.
    • Report Dashboard: Provides a consolidated, detailed view of cluster statistics.

To learn more about these dashboards, refer to the Monitor Using a Built-in NCache Monitor Dashboard section.

Note

You can also monitor through AWS CloudWatch Dashboards. For detailed steps, refer to the AWS ASG Monitoring Guide.

Note

For more details on using NCache, please refer to the Administrator's and Programmer's Guides.

See Also

Subscribe and Launch NCache Cloud
Create Stack
Connect to Instance
Security Configuration