SharePoint 2013/2016 Distributed Cache Settings

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Just some notes about the SharePoint 2013/2016 Distributed Cache configuration from the field.

1.      Where to run the Distributed Cache (in case the SharePoint farm has multiple SharePoint servers)

  • Run the Distributed Cache on at least (and no more) 2 SharePoint servers

  • Preferably do not run the Distributed Cache on SharePoint servers which also run SharePoint Search

  • For maximum performance and availability the Distributed Cache is run on dedicated Cache servers

The Windows PowerShell commands for Distributed Cache diagnoses and configuration must be run at a SharePoint Cache Host.

 

2.      Print the Cache Host summary

Use-CacheCluster

Get-CacheHost

 

Output:

HostName : CachePort  Service Name            Service Status Version Info

--------------------  ------------            -------------- ------------

sp01.sigylon.nl:22233 AppFabricCachingService UP             3 [3,3][1,3]

sp02.sigylon.nl:22233 AppFabricCachingService UP             3 [3,3][1,3]

 

Make sure the Service Status of both Cache Hosts is UP.

 

3.      Print the Cache Host basic settings

Use-CacheCluster

Get-CacheHost | ForEach-Object {

 

    Get-CacheHostConfig –ComputerName $_.HostName -CachePort 22233

}

 

Output:

HostName        : sp01.sigylon.nl

ClusterPort     : 22234

CachePort       : 22233

ArbitrationPort : 22235

ReplicationPort : 22236

Size            : 819 MB

ServiceName     : AppFabricCachingService

HighWatermark   : 99%

LowWatermark    : 90%

IsLeadHost      : True

 

HostName        : sp02.sigylon.nl

ClusterPort     : 22234

CachePort       : 22233

ArbitrationPort : 22235

ReplicationPort : 22236

Size            : 819 MB

ServiceName     : AppFabricCachingService

HighWatermark   : 99%

LowWatermark    : 90%

IsLeadHost      : True

 

4.      Print the Cache Cluster Health details

Use-CacheCluster

Get-CacheClusterHealth

 

Too much output, just see it for yourself.

 

5.      Distributed Cache tuning

The Distributed Cache has 10 container types which can be configured:

DistributedLogonTokenCache
DistributedViewStateCache
DistributedAccessCache
DistributedActivityFeedCache
DistributedActivityFeedLMTCache
DistributedBouncerCache
DistributedDefaultCache
DistributedSearchCache
DistributedSecurityTrimmingCache
DistributedServerToAppServerAccessTokenCache

 The properties of interest are:

MaxConnectionsToServer
RequestTimeout
ChannelOpenTimeOut

 

Use the Windows PowerShell code below to list the default configuration:

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell

 

# Create the list of Distributed Cache Container Types.

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes  = @()

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedLogonTokenCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedViewStateCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedAccessCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedActivityFeedCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedActivityFeedLMTCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedBouncerCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedDefaultCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedSearchCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedSecurityTrimmingCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedServerToAppServerAccessTokenCache"

 

# Print the current Distributed Cache Settings for each Container Type.

$spDistributedCacheSettings = @()

ForEach ($spDistributedCacheContainerType in $spDistributedCacheContainerTypes)

{

     $spDistributedCacheSetting = Get-SPDistributedCacheClientSetting `

                                  -ContainerType $spDistributedCacheContainerType

 

    $spDistributedCacheInfo = [PSCustomObject] @{

 

        ContainerType            = $spDistributedCacheContainerType

        MaxConnectionsToServer   = $spDistributedCacheSetting.MaxConnectionsToServer

        RequestTimeout           = $spDistributedCacheSetting.RequestTimeout

        ChannelOpenTimeOut       = $spDistributedCacheSetting.ChannelOpenTimeOut

    }

    $spDistributedCacheSettings += $spDistributedCacheInfo

}

$spDistributedCacheSettings | Format-Table -AutoSize

Output

ContainerType                                MaxConnectionsToServer RequestTimeout ChannelOpenTimeOut

-------------                                ---------------------- -------------- ------------------

DistributedLogonTokenCache                                        8             20                 20

DistributedViewStateCache                                         8             20                 20

DistributedAccessCache                                            8           3000               3000

DistributedActivityFeedCache                                      8           3000               3000

DistributedActivityFeedLMTCache                                   8           3000               3000

DistributedBouncerCache                                           8           3000               3000

DistributedDefaultCache                                           8           3000               3000

DistributedSearchCache                                            8           3000               3000

DistributedSecurityTrimmingCache                                  8           3000               3000

DistributedServerToAppServerAccessTokenCache                      8           3000               3000

 

 

Remarks

  1. The MaxConnectionsToServer for all Container Types is set to 8. This setting is based on the number of Logical Processors of the Cache Host Servers. This number is far too high for a SharePoint Distributed Cache Cluster and will put an unnecessary high load on the Cache Host servers. Preferably the MaxConnectionsToServer property is set 1.
  2. The Container Types DistributedLogonTokenCache and DistributedViewStateCache have both properties RequestTimeout and ChannelOpenTimeout configured to 20 ms. These Timeouts are too narrow and will cause many reconnection retries. Preferable the Timeouts for all Distributed Cache Container Types are configured to 3000 ms.

The preferred configuration is applied by the Windows PowerShell code:

 Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell

 

# Create the list of Distributed Cache Container Types.

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes  = @()

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedLogonTokenCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedViewStateCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedAccessCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedActivityFeedCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedActivityFeedLMTCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedBouncerCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedDefaultCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedSearchCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedSecurityTrimmingCache"

$spDistributedCacheContainerTypes += "DistributedServerToAppServerAccessTokenCache"

 

# If needed change the Distributed Cache Settings.

ForEach ($spDistributedCacheContainerType in $spDistributedCacheContainerTypes)

{

    $spDistributedCacheSetting = Get-SPDistributedCacheClientSetting `

                                  -ContainerType $spDistributedCacheContainerType

    $spDistributedCacheSetting.MaxConnectionsToServer = 1

    $spDistributedCacheSetting.RequestTimeout         = 3000

    $spDistributedCacheSetting.ChannelOpenTimeOut     = 3000

    Set-SPDistributedCacheClientSetting `

         -ContainerType $spDistributedCacheContainerType $spDistributedCacheSetting

}

 

 

List the configuration after the new settings are applied (Re-use the code to print the default configuration):

ContainerType                                MaxConnectionsToServer RequestTimeout ChannelOpenTimeOut

-------------                                ---------------------- -------------- ------------------

DistributedLogonTokenCache                                        1           3000               3000

DistributedViewStateCache                                         1           3000               3000

DistributedAccessCache                                            1           3000               3000

DistributedActivityFeedCache                                      1           3000               3000

DistributedActivityFeedLMTCache                                   1           3000               3000

DistributedBouncerCache                                           1           3000               3000

DistributedDefaultCache                                           1           3000               3000

DistributedSearchCache                                            1           3000               3000

DistributedSecurityTrimmingCache                                  1           3000               3000

DistributedServerToAppServerAccessTokenCache                      1           3000               3000

 

Thank you for reading, I hope this blog post was informative or helpful for you.

Hans.