I began by outlining the core requirements for a distributed cache, focusing on scalability and consistency. I suggested using a combination of local and distributed caching strategies, mentioning tools like Redis or Memcached.

The interviewer engaged with this and asked for specific eviction policies and how we would handle cache invalidation across distributed nodes. I proposed an LRU eviction policy but struggled to fully articulate the impact of cache misses under high load.

The interviewer appreciated my response but pressed for more depth, leading to a slight sense of uncertainty on my part. I also touched on the importance of metrics and monitoring, which seemed to resonate well.