Aloaha CSP IntelliCache

The Aloaha CSP IntelliCache was introduced to Aloaha to reduce USB Traffic to the SmartCard and also to speed up Smart Card based Domain Logons.

Aloaha caches per default various smart card operation caused by rough signature applications. For example some applications stay reading the certificate x-times from the smartcard before actually triggering the signature process. Since Smart Cards are by nature several times slower than software certificates this can cause some discomfort.

Complex cyrptographic operations nowadays involve several tasks and different system user because they do not take into consideration that smartcards allow only one process to be connected at the same time. 

To cater for such complex multiuser operations it is essential that Aloaha decides which task can access the card direct and which task is being served from the Aloaha CSP IntelliCache.

The Aloaha CSP IntelliCache is being configured via the file CSP_Cache.ini located the Aloaha Installdir (typically <program files>\wrocklage)

Only the section  "Settings" is of interest for the user to fine tune the Aloaha behavior:

[Settings]
Ageing=15
CacheAll=0
CacheSystem=1
autoDisconnect=1

Ageing defines how many seconds an item is allowed to remain in the Aloaha Cache. CacheSystem = 1 is the default settings and instructs to serve Windows System Processes via the Aloaha IntelliCache. This can be extended to all processes if CacheAll is being set to 1 as well. 

The default setting autoDisconnect makes sure that if items are served from the cache any open connection to the card reader is being closed.