hey guys if i have an azure web app running under multiple instances how do i use asp.net cache. has the azure team written any cache providers for azure?
i read somewhere they are going to support velocity in future but if i have to go live with some app in next couple of months what is the best way i can cache my data (i dont want to use sql server cache as that simply defeats my purpose of caching in the first place)
There are a few options now -
1) Check out azuresqlsession.codeplex.com - a custom session provider that works with SQL Azure. It's much faster than the custom provider Microsoft wrote that works with azure table storage.
2) There's also "AppFabric Caching" - a distributed cache that runs in the azure data centers. Microsoft also wrote a custom session provider that works with AppFabric Caching. Currently it's in CTP and you can get it here - portal.appfabriclabs.com - there's a good overview on how to use it here - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazureappfabric/archive/2010/10/28/introduction-to-windows-azure-appfabric-caching-ctp.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0 - and also in the azure sdk 1.3 labs.
I realize the question was asked a while back - I just thought I'd update it if someone stumbled upon the question after a google/bing search.
Good times! about.me/ehuna
I just wanted to update with latest Info as I just stumbled upon this post:
Windows Azure Cache is live and running in full Swing, learn more here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/gg278356.aspx
Here is an example to show how to use Windows Azure Cache with ASP.NET application:
https://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/how-to-guides/cache/
Microsoft plans to implement a Windows Azure Cache Provider when ASP.NET Cache extensibility ships with .NET 4.0.
In the meantime, could you cache separately on each instance and then maybe use queue storage to message between instances for cache invalidation?
