What is Distributed (AppFabrikCache) Cache Service?

Introduction

The Distributed Cache service provides caching features in SharePoint Server 2013. The microblog features and feeds rely on the Distributed Cache to store data for very fast retrieval across all entities. The Distributed Cache service is built on Windows Server AppFabric, which implements the AppFabric Caching service. Windows Server AppFabric installs with the prerequisites for SharePoint Server 2013. The Distributed Cache service provides in-memory caching services to several features in SharePoint Server 2013. Some of the features that use the Distributed Cache service include:

  • Newsfeeds
  • Authentication
  • OneNote client access
  • Security Trimming
  • Page load performance

In SharePoint Server 2013, there are several caches that exist, all of which depend on the Distributed Cache service.

Different caches that depend on the Distributed Cache service as indicated in the following table:

Name Cache Name Description
Login Token Cache DistributedLogonTokenCache  
Feed Cache DistributedActivityFeedCache This cache stores activities and conversations for use by the feeds on a user’s My Site.
Last Modified Time Cache DistributedActivityFeedLMTCache This cache stores time stamp information for all Feed Cache entities.
OneNote Throttling DistributedBouncerCache  
Access Cache DistributedAccessCache  
Search Query Web Part DistributedSearchCache  
Security Trimming Cache DistributedSecurityTrimmingCache  
App Token Cache DistributedServerToAppServerAccessTokenCache  
View State Cache DistributedViewStateCache  
Default Cache DistributedDefaultCache This cache can be used by any feature.

The microblog features and feeds rely on the following two caches: the Last Modified Time Cache and the Feed Cache.

  • Feed Cache: The Feed Cache stores recent activities and recent conversations for all entities.

  • Last Modified Time Cache: The Last Modified Time Cache is used to determine the last modified time for all items in the Feed Cache.
Source: Overview of microblog features, feeds, and the Distributed Cache service in SharePoint Server 2013.