asp.net web api - Caching Data in Web API

Question

I have the need to cache a collection of objects that is mostly static (might have changes 1x per day) that is avaliable in my ASP.NET Web API OData service. This result set is used across calls (meaning not client call specific) so it needs to be cached at the application level.

I did a bunch of searching on 'caching in Web API' but all of the results were about 'output caching'. That is not what I'm looking for here. I want to cache a 'People' collection to be reused on subsequent calls (might have a sliding expiration).

My question is, since this is still just ASP.NET, do I use traditional Application caching techniques for persisting this collection in memory, or is there something else I need to do? This collection is not directly returned to the user, but rather used as the source behind the scenes for OData queries via API calls. There is no reason for me to go out to the database on every call to get the exact same information on every call. Expiring it hourly should suffice.

Any one know how to properly cache the data in this scenario?

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16443795/caching-data-in-web-api

Answer 1

Yes, output caching is not what you are looking for. You can cache the data in memory with MemoryCache for example, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.runtime.caching.memorycache.aspx . However, you will lose that data if the application pool gets recycled. Another option is to use a distributed cache like AppFabric Cache or MemCache to name a few.