Described herein are systems, methods, and software for translating data requests in a data processing cluster. In one example, a method of operating a cache service to interface between a virtual machine cluster and job data associated with a job executed by the virtual machine cluster includes identifying a request initiated by the virtual machine cluster to access at least a portion of the job data in accordance with a first distributed object access protocol. The method further includes in response to the request, accessing at least the portion of the job data in accordance with a second distributed object access protocol, and presenting at least the portion of the job data to the virtual machine cluster in accordance with the first distributed object access protocol.