Coherence is a data source and its data can be secured in a way that only authorized users or applications should have access to it. Another vital requirement is simplicity of configuring security. Too many configuration options make things unnecessarily complex. Typically cache security is based on a special class scheme with a custom named cache that should be used as a cache scheme for the caches that need to be protected. Following is an implementation that simplifies it a little and streamlines the scope of various components involved. Download the attached project (jDeveloper) and use it.

Step (1): Change the cache configuration

Following is a sample cache configuration:
<!DOCTYPE cache-config SYSTEM "cache-config.dtd">
<cache-config>
    <caching-scheme-mapping>
        <cache-mapping>
            <cache-name>EntitledCache</cache-name>
            <scheme-name>distributed-scheme</scheme-name>
        </cache-mapping>       
    </caching-scheme-mapping>
    <caching-schemes>
        <distributed-scheme>
            <scheme-name>distributed-scheme</scheme-name>
            <service-name>DistributedCache</service-name>
            <backing-map-scheme>
                <local-scheme></local-scheme>
            </backing-map-scheme>
            <autostart>true</autostart>
            <entitled>
                <security-provider>MySecurityProvider</security-provider>
            </entitled>
        </distributed-scheme>       
    </caching-schemes>
</cache-config>

And instead of deploying any Custom Cache all you need to do is the following:

1. Add the <entitled> element in the cache-scheme.
2. Provide a security-provider - A class that implements SecurityProvider interface

It is up to the application what implementation of SecurityProvider should be. The interface is pretty simple:

Step (2): SecurityProvider interface

public interface SecurityProvider {
    public boolean checkAccess (Subject subject);
}

Step (3): Security Provider implementation

The security provider is the application's responsibility. Typical implementations are Application's group name (OS), a Cryptic string or even JAAS based LDAP authentication.

Step (4): Deploy the entitler.jar
Put the entitler.jar in the classpath before coherence.jar bundled in the attached ZIp under the deploy/ directory. Even though not required it is recommended to use the attached cache-config.dtd as it is updated to handle new Elements.

Current Status:

1. Compiled with jdk1.6
2. Uses Java generics so make sure to use Java5.