An Evaluation of Alternative Physical Graph Data Designs for Processing Interactive Social Networking Actions

This study quantifies the tradeoff associated with alternative physical representations of a social graph for processing interactive social networking actions. We conduct this evaluation using a graph data store named Neo4j deployed in a client-server (REST) architecture using the BG benchmark. In addition to the average response time of a design, we quantify its SoAR defined as the highest observed throughput given the following service level agreement: 95% of actions to observe a response time of 100 milliseconds or faster. For an action such as computing the shortest distance between two members, we observe a tradeoff between speed and accuracy of the computed result. With this action, a relational data design provides a significantly faster response time than a graph design. The graph designs provide a higher SoAR than a relational one when the social graph includes large member profile images stored in the data store.