5.8. GET and PUT Usage in Distribution Mode

In distribution mode, the cache performs a remote GET command before a write command. This occurs because certain methods (for example, Cache.put()) return the previous value associated with the specified key according to the java.util.Map contract. When this is performed on an instance that does not own the key and the entry is not found in the L1 cache, the only reliable way to elicit this return value is to perform a remote GET before the PUT.

The GET operation that occurs before the PUT operation is always synchronous, whether the cache is synchronous or asynchronous, because JBoss Data Grid must wait for the return value.