Windows Server AppFabric in Version 1 was built for cache-aside patterns, which implies that all the applications and services relying on AppFabric cache are responsible for loading data into the AppFabric Cache themselves. With v1.1, Windows Server AppFabric has added support for Read-Through and Write-Behind scenarios. There are more details on these caching patterns in Chapter 3, Windows Server AppFabric Caching – Advanced Use Cases
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Data can be loaded in cache if and only when it is needed by the calling client. This is called Lazy Loading. The data can also be loaded in the cache when the application starts. This is called Eager Loading. Both approaches have their pros and cons.
In this recipe we will go through some of the common use-cases of adding, retrieving, and updating data from the Windows Server AppFabric Cache.