EF4.1 hangs for 120 seconds when using Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.DataCacheFactory

Question

I have a consistent, repeatable 120 second hang whenever the application calls

 this.cacheProvider.Add(new CacheItem(cacheKey, data, this.regionName), cachePolicy);

at line 60 of the CachedDataSource.cs of the sample.. The .Add method is internal to Microsoft's DLL and I don't have code to it. Here are my parameters:

cacheKey = "listofCompanies"
data = // this is an EF 4.0 database first model class with 70 entries... result from IQueryable
this.regionName = "companies"

Reproducing the error:

I have a database-first EF4.0 project that I recently upgraded to 4.1 by adding the "EntityFramework" reference and a ContextGenerator to my DAL.

If I undo these changes, then my application is instantly performant.

My DAL and repository are stored in a separate DLL from my MVC application. Not sure if this is playing a part of the issue.

About my repository

    /// Sample repository.  Note that I return List<T> as IEnumerable, 
    /// and I use IDisposable 
    ///
    public class CompanyRepository : DisposableBase, ICompanyRepository
    {
        public IEnumerable<CompanyDetail> GetOneCompany(int? CompanyID)
        {
            var t = from c in _entities.CompanyDetail
                    where c.CompanyID == CompanyID.Value
                    select c;
            return t.ToList();
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Disposable implementation based on advice from this link:
    /// from Http://www.asp.net/entity-framework/tutorials/implementing-the-repository-and-unit-of-work-patterns-in-an-asp-net-mvc-application
    /// </summary>
    public class DisposableBase : IDisposable
    {
        protected TLSAdminEntities1 _entities;

        public DisposableBase()
        {
            _entities = new TLSAdminEntities1();
            disposed = false;
        }

        private bool disposed ;
        protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing)
        {
            if (!this.disposed)
            {
                if (disposing)
                {
                    _entities.Dispose();
                }
            }
            this.disposed = true;
        }
        public void Dispose()
        {
            Dispose(true);
            GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
        }
    }

Question

Is this a bug, or am I using EF4.1, or the Caching layer incorrectly?

Answer 1

You mention that data is the result of IQueryable. Have you tried to perform .ToList() first on the data before sending it over to cache?