A programmable switch includes a plurality of ports for communication with devices on a network. Circuitry of the programmable switch is configured to receive a cache line request from a client on the network to obtain a cache line for performing an operation by the client. A port is identified for communicating with a memory device storing the cache line. The memory device is one of a plurality of memory devices used for a distributed cache. The circuitry is further configured to update a cache directory for the distributed cache based on the cache line request, and send the cache line request to the memory device using the identified port. In one aspect, it is determined whether the cache line request is for modifying the cache line.