<system.web> <sessionState mode="Custom" customProvider="AppFabricCacheSessionProvider"> <providers> <add name="AppFabricCacheSessionProvider" type="Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.DataCacheSessionStoreProvider" /> </providers> </sessionState> </system.web>
Introduction In the evolution of distributed computing, managing state, speeding up data access, and ensuring reliable service execution have always been challenges. Microsoft introduced Windows Server AppFabric (often simply called "AppFabric") as a set of integrated technologies aimed at making it easier to build, scale, and manage web applications and composite services on IIS (Internet Information Services).
| AppFabric Component | Modern Replacement | |---------------------|--------------------| | Caching Service | (on-prem: Redis on Windows/Linux, Cloud: Azure Cache for Redis) | | ASP.NET Session State Provider | Azure Cache for Redis Session State Provider or Database-backed sessions | | Workflow Hosting & Persistence | Azure Logic Apps or Durable Functions or Workflow Core (open source) | | WCF Hosting Management | Transition to gRPC or ASP.NET Core Web APIs |
DataCacheFactory factory = new DataCacheFactory(); DataCache cache = factory.GetCache(“MyCache”); cache.Add(“UserId-123”, “JohnDoe”); string user = cache.Get(“UserId-123”) as string; | Factor | Recommendation | |--------|----------------| | Serialization | Use binary serialization for complex objects. NET native serialization is faster than XML. | | Local Cache | Enable for read-heavy, rarely-changed data. Set sync policy to TimeoutBased or NotificationBased . | | Eviction Policy | LRU (Least Recently Used) for general caches. FIFO for sequential access patterns. | | Cluster Size | Minimum 3 cache hosts for production (for quorum and redundancy). | | Backup Count | Set to 1 for high availability (each partition has one backup). | Migration Paths and Modern Alternatives Microsoft has officially shifted away from AppFabric caching. Here is the current landscape:
