Getting Started with NCache Cloud on Azure (VMSS)
This guide provides the basic steps you should follow to get started with NCache Cloud on Azure. For the purpose of this guide, we'll be using an Hourly Plan and deploying NCache using the Azure VMSS as a new user.
Important
NCache Cloud deploys as a managed application that attaches to your existing infrastructure. Therefore, the Resource Group and Virtual Network (VNET) must be created beforehand in the target deployment region.
Note
Before you begin, ensure your Azure subscription has accepted the NCache Cloud image terms to avoid deployment errors. For detailed instructions, see Accepting NCache Cloud Image Terms.
Step 1: Get NCache VMSS
Navigate the Marketplace: Log in to the Azure Portal, navigate to Marketplace from the Azure Services menu, and search for NCache in the Discover Products section to select the NCache Cloud Azure Application.
Select the Plan: On selecting NCache Cloud Azure application, a new page with Subscription and Plan options will appear. Select Hourly plan from the dropdown menu and click Create.
Basic Information: This will land you on Create Hourly page and fill out the details in Basics section. Select your Subscription, Resource Group, and Region, then specify the Application Name and Managed Resource Group.
User Details: In the User Details section provide your First Name, Last Name, Company Name, and Email Address.
Environment Details: In the Environment Details section enter the Environment Name, Type, and Admin Credentials, and set the Number of Servers (up to 10).
Enable Public IP Address: To enable RDP access, select Enable Public IP Address. For successful deployment you need to provide your Virtual Network, Subnet, OS Disk Type, and Availability Zone.
NCache Details: In NCache Details section, select the desired NCache Version, Operating System, and Server Plan.
OS Patch Schedule: In the OS Patch Schedule on the same page, set your preferred Week, Day, and UTC Time for updates.
Managed Identity Details: In the Managed Identity Details section, provide a managed identity with Contributor Access to your Resource group and confirm that the required deployment scripts have been executed.
Review + Create: In Review + create section, verify your settings and click Create to confirm the provision of your resources.
For more details, refer to the NCache Deployment Cloud page.
Step 2: Connect to Cache Instance
Once you have created your NCache instance in the Cloud, you can connect to it through a Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) using the Public IP address displayed on the instance details page. Follow the steps mentioned below to access your NCache instance:
Navigate to the Resource Group in the Azure portal that was created for your NCache deployment.
Select the Virtual Machine Scale Set (VMSS) and click Instances in the left-hand menu to see your active cache instances.
Select the desired instance, copy its Public IP address, paste it into the RDC dialog box, and click Connect.
Log in using the Admin Username and Password established during the initial instance creation.
For full details, refer to the Connect to Instance page.
Step 3: Create a 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:
Launch the NCache Management Center at http://localhost:8251.
In the left navigation pane, go to Clustered Caches, and click on New.
On the In-Memory Store page, select Distributed Cache as the cache type and specify a name for your cache. Then, click Next.
Choose the Partition-Replica caching topology and a Replication Strategy. Click Next.
Add two server nodes by specifying the Server Node IP/Name for each. Click Next.
Warning
If a cache with the same name already exists on a node, you cannot create another cache with the same name.
Continue with the default Cluster Port and Port Range, accepting other default settings.
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.
To learn more about the options available to you as part of the cache creation process, please refer to the NCache Administrator's Guide.
Step 4: Add Client
A client is your web or application server. This can be either a local or remote client. You can add it using the NCache Management Center. The process of adding client to your cache cluster is exactly the same for all store types. This section uses the example of the Distributed Cache store type.
On the Clustered Caches page, click on View Details against the appropriate Cache Name.
This opens up the detailed configuration page for the cache. In the Client Nodes tab, click Add and enter the Client Node IP/Name.
This connects your application server to the cache cluster.
Step 5: Test the Cluster
You can test the cluster using the NCache Management Center as follows:
In the NCache Management Center, click "..." next to your cache and select the Show Statistics option.
Set the Test-Stress timer to 1 minute. This is the duration for which data is added to your cache, and after this specific expiration time has elapsed, the data will be removed from the cache.
Click on the Start button next to the timer to see live cache activity on the Server Dashboard.
Step 6: Monitor Cluster
Following a stress test, you must monitor your cluster to ensure performance stability. NCache provides a multi-layered monitoring strategy to track system resources and cache operations, using the NCache Management Center through Monitoring Dashboards and Tabular Statistics as follows:
In the NCache Management Center, click the "..." button against your cache name and select Monitor Cluster. Ensure the cache is already running.
NCache opens three real-time dashboards in a new tab:
Server Dashboard: Provides a graphical view of cluster health, event logs, and critical server-side counters like CPU Usage, Cache Size, and Requests/sec.
Client Dashboard: Displays client-side system resource usage and specific metrics such as Read/Write Operations/sec and Average Item Size.
Report Dashboard: Provides a consolidated view of cluster statistics in a detailed format.
To learn more about these dashboards, please see Monitor Using a Built-in NCache Monitor Dashboard section.
Note
You can also monitor through Azure Dashboards. For detailed steps, refer to the Azure Monitoring.
For more details on using NCache, please refer to the Administrator's and Programmer's guides.
