Getting Started with NCache
This guide provides the basic steps you should follow to download and install NCache Enterprise on Windows on-premises along with how to get it up and running with a free trial. This involves creating a distributed cache on Windows and using .NET for Data Caching.
Step 1: Download and Install NCache
To download NCache, please follow the steps below:
You can download NCache from the Software section on the NCache Downloads page.
This will take you to a User Registration page, where you must sign up as a New User.
Warning
Please ensure your Work Email is accurate as your evaluation license key will be sent here.
After clicking on Register & Download, you will be led to a Software Evaluation Agreement page, read through this and click on I "Accept the License Agreement".
Click on the Download button on the resulting page.
Place the resulting .msi file in a folder in the
Cdrive, for instance,"C:\NCache".
To install NCache, please follow the steps below:
Open a Command Prompt instance using the Run as Administrator option.
Type and run the following command, for the NCache Setup Wizard to appear. Click Next.
msiexec /i "<Setup Path>\ncache.ent.net.x64.msi"On the next screen, accept the license agreement before proceeding with your choosen Installation Type, i.e., Cache Server, Remote Client, or Developer/QA. After that, you'll need to enter the Evaluation Key provided by Alachisoft, along with the user information you submitted during sign-up.
Next you need to proceed with the recommended Installation Folder, IP Binding, and Firewall Ports before choosing to use a Local System Account.
After which, you must click on Install and Finish to launch NCache Management Center.
If you want to learn more about the installation process, please refer to the NCache Installation Guide.
Note
Refer to the NCache documentation for comprehensive guides on installing NCache on Windows and Linux.
Step 2: Create a Distributed Cache
This section will demonstrate how you can create a 2-Node Partition-Replica cache through the NCache Management Center and the Command Line Interface.
Note
Once you have installed NCache on your Developer/QA Server, Cache Server, or Remote Client machines, you can now create a distributed cache.
Launch the NCache Management Center at http://localhost:8251.
In the left navigation bar, go to Clustered Caches, and click on New.
In the resulting In-Memory Store page, select Distributed Cache as your store type and specify the name of your cache. Click Next.
Select the Partition-Replica caching topology and a Replication Strategy (either Async or Sync). Click Next.
Add two server nodes by specifying the Server Node IP/Name and click on the Add Node button for each. Click Next once all the required nodes are added.
Note
For a 2-node cluster, ensure you are using the static IP addresses of two different machines where NCache is installed.
Warning
If the cache is already registered with the same name on that node, you will not be able to create another cache.
Proceed with the preselected Cluster Port and Port Range, and accept any default settings, where required.
Enable auto-start cache as soon as it is created, or whenever the service starts. Click Finish to create 2-node cache cluster.
Note
To learn more about the options available to you as part of the cache creation process, please refer to the NCache Administrators Guide. Alternatively, you can also create such a distributed cache using PowerShell tools.
Step 3: Add Clients
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 or the relevant PowerShell cmdlets. The process of adding local/remote clients 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
and enter the Client Node IP/Name.You'll receive a success notification upon adding and the newly added node will be visible in the Client Nodes list.
To learn more about Adding Client Nodes Using NCache Management Center, please see Administrator's guide.
Step 4: Test the Cluster
You can test the cluster using the NCache Management Center or Test Stress PowerShell cmdlet.
Using the NCache Management Center
- 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 is be removed from the cache.
- Click on the Start button next to the timer to see live cache activity on the Server Dashboard as shown below.
Step 5: 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 either the NCache Management Center (through Monitoring Dashboards and Tabular Statistics), PowerShell commands, or PerfMon Tools.
Using Monitoring Dashboards
In the NCache Management Center, click the "..." button against your cache name and select Monitor Cluster. Ensure the cache is already running.
Built-in Dashboards
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
For more details on using NCache, please refer to the Administrator's and Developer's Guides.
