For the issue of invalidating, see http://jira.jboss.com/jira/browse/JBCACHE-1027 . If we could get INVALIDATE_SYNC working well for entities (i.e. stuff we're working on to allow a different cache for the query cache, which doesn't like INVALIDATE), then IMO the CacheMode attribute on the cache will provide sufficient control; i.e. if you want the entity to replicate when Hibernate caches it, use REPL_SYNC; if you don't, use INVALIDATE_SYNC. View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4038646#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...