ASP.NET: Moving from System.Web.Caching.Cache to Redis

Question

I am involved in an effort to replace System.Web.Caching.Cache with Redis. The issue I am running into is that while System.Web.Caching.Cache seems to be able to cache just about whatever object I pass to it, Redis is string-based. This means that I have to worry about serialization myself.

The two approaches I've tried are 1) to use JSON.NET to serialize my objects to a string, and 2) to use BinaryFormatter. The JSON.NET approach can probably be made to work, but of course there are many configuration points (around what to serialize/ignore, how to handle reference loops, etc.) and making this approach work has turned into a fair amount of work.

The BinaryFormatter approach, I had suspected, was probably closer to what System.Web.Caching.Cache was doing internally. Having gone down that path a bit, though, I am not so sure of that anymore. Many types I'm trying to cache are not marked [Serializable], which seems to rule out BinaryFormatter.

I am wondering if anyone else has faced similar issues, or knows what System.Web.Caching.Cache is doing internally so that I can emulate it. Thanks.

I like approach 1. I don't know if it is really that helpful to know what System.Web.Caching.Cache is doing internally. Consider your app interacting with an abstraction of a caching mechanism so that you don't need to "emulate" anything. The work you are facing using approach 1 is forcing you to think about exactly which data you want to cache (this is a useful exercise!). — Chris Danna
– Chris Danna, Commented Oct 23, 2020 at 13:41

Han Zhao · Accepted Answer · 2020-10-29 21:09:55Z

1

System.Web.Caching.Cache seems to be able to cache just about whatever object I pass to it. This means that I have to worry about serialization myself.

That is exactly because System.Web.Caching.Cache stores object references when application is running.

So that I can emulate it

Unfortunately, you cannot. Redis is a remote service. When you take advantage of Redis (i.e., distributed caching, reducing memory footprint in your local machine), you have to pay the price - handle serialization yourself.

The good news is that, there are a couple of serialization libraries available.

answered Oct 29, 2020 at 21:09

Han Zhao

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