Windows Azure Debug Caching - Request Timeout

Question

I have a problem when using Windows Azure caching with an emulator (i.e. on local, not on cloud).

My system configurations:

• Windows 8
• Visual Studio 2012 Update 1
• Azure SDK and emulator 1.8
• Windows Azure Cache 1.8.1
• Web interface
• .NET 4.5

The problem is that our server uses (in its role) caching of Windows Azure to manage sessions, etc. After the server receives requests from clients, it begins to communicate with caching of Windows Azure to deliver / receive some objects (for example, session objects). Then a timeout exception occurs (Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.DataCacheException), and the server becomes unresponsive by displaying the following messages in the Visual Studio output log.

... iisexpress.exe Error: 0 : ERROR: <DistributedCache.RoutingClient> 25cb6980-94c5-4e72- adee-cd58defff7fe:SendMsgAndWait: Request TimedOut, msgId = 77 A first chance exception of type 'Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.DataCacheException' occurred in Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.Client.dll 'iisexpress.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'C:\windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.VisualStudio.Debugger.Runtime\11.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\Microsoft.VisualStudio.Debugger.Runtime.dll' iisexpress.exe Error: 0 : The thread '<No Name>' (0x16d0) has exited with code 0 (0x0). The thread '<No Name>' (0x1a00) has exited with code 0 (0x0). The thread '<No Name>' (0x2298) has exited with code 0 (0x0). ERROR: <DistributedCache.RoutingClient> e91ff46b-870c-4d83-8eef-6bdb718baab9:SendMsgAndWait: Request TimedOut, msgId = 78 iisexpress.exe Warning: 0 : Microsoft.WindowsAzure.ServiceRuntime Verbose: 500 : Role instance status check starting Microsoft.WindowsAzure.ServiceRuntime Verbose: 502 : Role instance status check succeeded: Ready WARNING: <SimpleSendReceiveModule> DeadServerCallback Called, Server URI: [net.tcp://127.255.0.0:20004], Underlying exception - A first chance exception of type 'Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.DataCacheException' occurred in Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.Client.dll iisexpress.exe Warning: 0 : WARNING: <SimpleSendReceiveModule> DeadServerCallback Called, Server URI: [net.tcp://127.255.0.0:20004], Underlying exception - iisexpress.exe Warning: 0 : WARNING: <SimpleSendReceiveModule> DeadServerCallback: Matches My Server, Cleaning Pending Requests iisexpress.exe Warning: 0 : WARNING: <SimpleSendReceiveModule> 48c1dd7f-f54d-40a8-9990-25af48b91eb1:Request - 79, result - Status=SendFailed[System.Net.Sockets.SocketException (0x80004005): An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Send(IList`1 buffers) at Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.TcpSocketChannel.Send(IList`1 buffers, TimeSpan timeout)] iisexpress.exe Warning: 0 : WARNING: <SimpleSendReceiveModule> DeadServerCallback: Matches My Server, Cleaning Pending Requests A first chance exception of type 'Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.DataCacheException' occurred in Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.Client.dll iisexpress.exe Warning: 0 : WARNING: <DistributedCache.SocketClientChannel.1> Request 81 to host net.tcp://127.255.0.0:20004/ failed Status=ChannelOpening iisexpress.exe Warning: 0 : WARNING: <DistributedCache.SocketClientChannel.1> Request 80 to host net.tcp://127.255.0.0:20004/ failed Status=ChannelOpening iisexpress.exe Warning: 0 : WARNING: <SimpleSendReceiveModule> 8ec8ff74-1f04-49da-8ff5-529d0697542f:Request - 81, result - Status=ChannelOpening iisexpress.exe Warning: 0 : A first chance exception of type 'Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.DataCacheException' occurred in Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.Client.dll 

When this happens, the server will simply be down (i.e. it works, but does not respond).

Any idea why this is happening? Is this related to Windows 8?

Thanks,

Answer 1

I also had this problem and it was ported to Hyper-V virtual Ethernet adapters on the same machine. Disabling the two adapters that I installed fixed timeout errors in Azure caching. On this machine, I could continue to be connected to the network / Internet.

Hyper-V was not installed on another machine, and disconnecting the Ethernet adapter (disconnecting from the Internet) "fixed" the problem. Therefore, to run my application, I must first disconnect from the network every time.

On both of these machines, Azure development caching seems to have problems doing IP searches for cache servers (e.g. 127.255.0.0, 127.255.0.1, 127.255.0.2, etc.), it works for multiple requests, and then starts a timeout. When it is unplugged, it always works.

This worked perfectly for me on both Windows 8 machines for several months before I had any problems.

Update

Clearing the DNS cache fixed this for me, now it works when connected to the network. ipconfig /flushdns

Answer 2

I could not fully confirm this, but the problem seems to be due to the legacy protocol in the azure caching DLLs.

I managed to work around the problem by running this configuration in the default cache:

 <dataCacheClient name="default" isCompressionEnabled="false" maxConnectionsToServer="4" useLegacyProtocol="false" > 

Hope this helps