Alachisoft.NCache.SDK 5.3.7

Alachisoft.NCache.SDK

This NCache SDK NuGet package explains the complete package avaialble for using NCache with .NET. Essentially, it provides the client APIs required to build .NET applications with NCache.

Package Versions

Overview

The NCache SDK includes client libraries for the following:

• CacheManager — Provides static methods for establishing connections to an NCache cache.
• ICache — Represents a cache instance and exposes APIs for CRUD operations, querying, messaging, events, locking, expiration, and other cache operations.
• CacheConnectionOptions — Configures how client applications connect to the cache, including server endpoints, security, retry behavior, timeouts, and other connection settings.
• CacheItem — Represents a cache entry together with metadata such as expiration, priority, groups, tags, named tags, and dependencies.
• Supporting APIs — Includes types for SQL queries, Continuous Queries, Pub/Sub messaging, client cache, cache dependencies, serialization, security, runtime events, and other distributed caching features.

Applications establish a connection by calling CacheManager.GetCache(), which returns an ICache instance. Once connected, the ICache interface provides access to all supported NCache operations, including storing and retrieving data, executing queries, publishing messages, receiving notifications, and managing cache entries. Several of the features are highlighted below.

Key Features

• Distributed in-memory caching
• Synchronous and asynchronous cache operations
• Bulk CRUD operations
• Absolute and sliding expiration
• Cache item locking and versioning
• Tags and Named Tags
• SQL queries
• Runtime cache event notifications
• Pub/Sub messaging
• Read-through and Write-through support

What Is Installed

Installing the Alachisoft.NCache.SDK package adds the NCache assemblies and configuration files required by a .NET application to connect to and use an NCache cache.

The following configuration files are copied to the application's output directory:

NCache first looks for these files in the application's local directory. If the required configuration is not available locally, it attempts to read it from the NCache installation directory. When NCache is not installed on the application machine, ensure that the local configuration files contain all required cache and connection information.

Prerequisites

Before using this package, ensure you have:

1. Existing Cache: A running cluster (e.g., demoCache) must already be created on an NCache server.
2. .NET Version: The recommended target framework is .NET 10.0. For all supported .NET versions, refer to Supported .NET Versions.
3. NCache Installation: You must have NCache Enterprise installed on your cache servers. For the client machine, you only need the client libraries.
4. Cache Connectivity: Ensure network access to the cache servers.

Installation

Install the Alachisoft.NCache.SDK package using either the NuGet Package Manager Console or the .NET CLI.

NuGet Package Manager Console

Install-Package Alachisoft.NCache.SDK

.NET CLI

dotnet add package Alachisoft.NCache.SDK

Connect to Cache

Use CacheManager.GetCache() to connect to an existing NCache cache. The method returns an ICache instance, which is used to perform cache operations.

using Alachisoft.NCache.Client;

ICache cache = CacheManager.GetCache("demoCache");

You can also provide connection settings programmatically by using CacheConnectionOptions.

var connectionOptions = new CacheConnectionOptions
{
    ServerList = new List<ServerInfo>
    {
        new ServerInfo("127.0.0.1")
    }
};

ICache cache = CacheManager.GetCache("demoCache", connectionOptions);

CacheConnectionOptions controls how the client application connects to NCache.

Connection information can also be provided through the local client.ncconf file.

Usage

After obtaining an ICache instance, use it to add, retrieve, update, and remove cached data.

using Alachisoft.NCache.Client;
using Alachisoft.NCache.Runtime.Caching;

ICache cache = CacheManager.GetCache("demoCache");

var customer = new Customer
{
    CustomerId = "ALFKI",
    Name = "Alfreds Futterkiste"
};

string key = $"Customer:{customer.CustomerId}";

// Add data to the cache
cache.Add(key, customer);

// Retrieve data from the cache
Customer cachedCustomer = cache.Get<Customer>(key);

// Update data in the cache
customer.Name = "Updated Customer Name";
cache.Insert(key, customer);

// Remove data from the cache
cache.Remove(key);

Once connected:

• Cache operations are performed through the ICache interface.
• Expiration, dependencies, tags, locking, and other metadata can be configured through CacheItem.
• Search, messaging, events, and other NCache features are available through their respective APIs.

Validation

When CacheManager.GetCache() is called, NCache validates the cache name and the supplied connection settings before establishing a cache connection.

The following conditions should be met:

• The cache name must be specified.
• The specified cache must already exist and be running.
• CacheConnectionOptions, when provided, must contain valid connection settings.
• Each entry in ServerList must specify a valid NCache server address.
• The client machine must be able to communicate with the cache servers.
• Valid credentials must be provided when connecting to a secured cache.

If the cache does not exist, cannot be reached, or the supplied connection information is invalid, NCache throws an exception while establishing the connection.

Best Practices

• Reuse the ICache instance throughout the application instead of creating a new connection for every operation.
• Configure multiple cache server addresses in ServerList for distributed deployments.
• Use appropriate expiration policies to prevent unused data from remaining in the cache.
• Avoid caching excessively large objects.
• Use asynchronous and bulk operations where appropriate.
• Use separate cache configurations for development, testing, and production environments.
• Secure production cache communication using TLS and authentication.
• Dispose of the cache connection when the application shuts down.

Resources

• NCache Documentation
• Alachisoft.NCache.SDK
• Programmers Guide
• Alachisoft Website

Technical Support

Alachisoft provides various technical support resources.

• Visit the Alachisoft Support Center to select a support resource appropriate for your issue.
• To request additional features or report a documentation discrepancy, contact support@alachisoft.com.

Copyrights

Copyright © 2026 Alachisoft. All rights reserved.