How Twitter's Database Infrastructure Ensures Network Stability

In Twitter’s early days, there were lots of infrastructure problems and the early adopters became very familiar with the fail whale. But the infrastructure has gotten better over the years, even as user numbers and tweet volume increases. According to Wired contributor Cade Metz, Twitter requires a staggeringly intricate infrastructure to maintain network stability.

There are more than 240 million Twitter accounts from all over the world tweeting 5,700 times every second. These tweets include a multitude of links, hashtags, photos and videos.