Distributed cache for graph data

A method comprising:

• maintaining at least a portion of a social graph, the social graph being maintained in a database and a cache layer, wherein the cache layer comprises a plurality of cache nodes, the plurality of cache nodes storing a plurality of data shards, wherein each data shard is operative to:
• maintaining at least the portion of a social graph, the social graph further comprising a plurality of graph nodes and a plurality of graph edges connecting the graph nodes, each graph edge connecting two graph nodes indicating an association between the two graph nodes;
• receiving a request to store associations between a first graph node and a second graph node, wherein the first and second graph nodes are identified by a first and second unique node identifier (node ID), respectively, the first and second graph nodes each corresponding to a particular data shard of the plurality of data shards;
• and
• updating, responsive to the request, the data shard corresponding to the first graph node and the data shard corresponding to the second graph node.

A non-transitory storage medium storing computer-readable instructions, the instructions, when executed, operative to cause one or more processors to operate one or more data shards stored in a cache node of a cache layer, the one or more data shards operative to:

• maintain at least a portion of the social graph, the social graph being maintained in a database and comprising a plurality of graph nodes and a plurality of graph edges connecting the graph nodes, each graph edge connecting two graph nodes indicating an association between the two graph nodes;
• receive a request to store associations between a first graph node and a second graph node, wherein the first and second graph nodes are identified by a first and second unique node identifier (node ID), respectively, the first and second graph nodes each corresponding to a particular data shard of the plurality of data shards;
• and
• update, responsive to the request, the data shard corresponding to the first graph node and the data shard corresponding to the second graph node.