For many data services, any easy way to reduce database load is to cache calls to semi-static data (ie: append-only, or refreshed only on a set schedule), and very recent calls due to backward user navigation. Not all methods and data are suitable for caching, so any implementation will require the ability to be selective.
In a system of async service calls, sometimes the most indispensable debugging tool is knowing what and when network traffic is occurring. Unfortunately for developers Finagle’s default protocol is binary, which while undecipherable, it can be transformed into something a lot more useful.
Ostrich is a stats collector and reporter created by Twitter, and it is a welcome addition to any Finagle (Apache Thrift) implementation. At its core it uses an extremely lightweight com.sun.net.httpserver.HttpServer to handle JSON and HTML requests.
Apache Thrift is a pretty good RPC library. Methods compose a service, and the service is hosted on a raw TCP port. Even a large implementation with a hundred methods will perform effortlessly, but for organizational purposes you’ll want to group calls together into separate services. The standard thrift protocols require that each service retain exclusive use to its own TCP port, creating a firewall maintenance nightmare.