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Entity Framework 2nd Level Cache

Overview

Entity Framework, as most other ORMs, can use caching on multiple levels.

First level caching is performed by DbContext on the entity level (entities are cached within corresponding DbSet)
Second level caching is on the level of DataReader and holds raw query data (however, there is no out-of-the-box 2nd level caching mechanism in Entity Framework 6).

Ignite.NET provides an EF6 second level caching solution that stores data in a distributed Ignite cache. This is ideal for scenarios with multiple application servers using a single SQL database via Entity Framework - cached queries are shared between all machines in the cluster.

Installation

Binary distribution: add a reference to Apache.Ignite.EntityFramework.dll
NuGet: Install-Package Apache.Ignite.EntityFramework

Configuration

Ignite.NET provides a custom DbConfiguration implementation which enables second level caching - Apache.Ignite.EntityFramework.IgniteDbConfiguration. There is a number of ways to apply DbConfiguration to the EntityFramework DbContext. See the following MSDN document for details: msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj680699.

The simplest way to implement this is to use the [DbConfigurationType] attribute:

[DbConfigurationType(typeof(IgniteDbConfiguration))]
class MyContext : DbContext
{
  public virtual DbSet<Foo> Foos { get; set; }
  public virtual DbSet<Bar> Bars { get; set; }
}

To customize caching behavior, create a class that inherits IgniteDbConfiguration and call one of the base constructors. The example below shows the most custom base constructor:

private class MyDbConfiguration : IgniteDbConfiguration
{
  public MyDbConfiguration()
    : base(
      // IIgnite instance to use
      Ignition.Start(),
      // Metadata cache configuration (small cache, does not tolerate data loss)
      // Should be replicated or partitioned with backups
      new CacheConfiguration("metaCache")
      {
        CacheMode = CacheMode.Replicated
      },
      // Data cache configuration (large cache, holds actual query results,
      // tolerates data loss). Can have no backups.
      new CacheConfiguration("dataCache")
      {
        CacheMode = CacheMode.Partitioned,
        Backups = 0
      },
      // Custom caching policy.
      new MyCachingPolicy())
    {
      // No-op.
    }
}

// Apply custom configuration to the DbContext
[DbConfigurationType(typeof(MyDbConfiguration))]
class MyContext : DbContext
{
  ...
}

Caching Policy

The caching policy feature controls a selected caching mode, expiration, and which entity sets should be cached. With the default null policy, all entity sets are cached in the ReadWrite mode with no expiration. A caching policy can be configured by implementing the IDbCachingPolicy interface or inheriting the DbCachingPolicy class. The example below shows a sample implementation:

public class DbCachingPolicy : IDbCachingPolicy
{
  /// <summary>
  /// Determines whether the specified query can be cached.
  /// </summary>
  public virtual bool CanBeCached(DbQueryInfo queryInfo)
  {
    // This method is called before database call.
    // Cache only Persons.
    return queryInfo.AffectedEntitySets.All(x => x.Name == "Person");
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Determines whether specified number of rows should be cached.
  /// </summary>
  public virtual bool CanBeCached(DbQueryInfo queryInfo, int rowCount)
  {
    // This method is called after database call.
    // Cache only queries that return less than 1000 rows.
    return rowCount < 1000;
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Gets the absolute expiration timeout for a given query.
  /// </summary>
  public virtual TimeSpan GetExpirationTimeout(DbQueryInfo queryInfo)
  {
    // Cache for 5 minutes.
    return TimeSpan.FromMinutes(5);
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Gets the caching strategy for a given query.
  /// </summary>
  public virtual DbCachingMode GetCachingMode(DbQueryInfo queryInfo)
  {
    // Cache with invalidation.
    return DbCachingMode.ReadWrite;
  }
}

Caching Modes

DbCachingMode Description

DbCachingMode	Description
`ReadOnly`	Read-only mode, never invalidates. Database updates are ignored in this mode. Once query results have been cached, they are kept in cache until expired (forever when no expiration is specified). This mode is suitable for data that is not expected to change (like a list of countries and other dictionary data).
`ReadWrite`	Read-write mode. Cached data is invalidated when underlying entity set changes. This is "normal" cache mode which always provides correct query results. Keep in mind that this mode works correctly only when all database changes are performed via DbContext with Ignite caching configured. Other database updates are not tracked.

ReadOnly

Read-only mode, never invalidates. Database updates are ignored in this mode. Once query results have been cached, they are kept in cache until expired (forever when no expiration is specified). This mode is suitable for data that is not expected to change (like a list of countries and other dictionary data).

ReadWrite

Read-write mode. Cached data is invalidated when underlying entity set changes. This is "normal" cache mode which always provides correct query results. Keep in mind that this mode works correctly only when all database changes are performed via DbContext with Ignite caching configured. Other database updates are not tracked.

app.config & web.config

Ignite caching can be enabled in the config files by providing an assembly-qualified type name of IgniteDbConfiguration (or your class that inherits it):

<entityFramework codeConfigurationType="Apache.Ignite.EntityFramework.IgniteDbConfiguration, Apache.Ignite.EntityFramework">
    ...Your EF config...
</entityFramework>

Advanced Configuration

When there is no possibility to inherit IgniteDbConfiguration (it already inherits some other class), you can call the IgniteDbConfiguration.InitializeIgniteCaching static method from the constructor, passing this as the first argument:

private class MyDbConfiguration : OtherDbConfiguration
{
  public MyDbConfiguration() : base(...)
  {
    IgniteDbConfiguration.InitializeIgniteCaching(this, Ignition.GetIgnite(), null, null, null);
  }
}

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