Shared cache is also known as distributed cache, and it is used for data which is dynamic in nature and changes a lot. The best example is transactional data, which is updated by many instances of an application simultaneously. With shared cache mechanism, the data is stored at a central location, and is relatively slower than local cache.
To implement the local or shared cache mechanisms, Azure provides three types of cache, which are described in the following table:
| Cache | Description |
| In-Role Cache | In-Role Cache is mostly used for the distributed caching mechanism, but we also have an option to enable the local cache. We can host this cache in Azure Web App or Worker Role and exclusively dedicate roles to caching or share a role with another application. |
| Managed Cache | This is just like storage services and is easily redundant and scalable. |
| Redis Cache | It's an in-memory data store used as cache and stores values in strings, hashes, lists, sets, and sorted sets. |