code: def get_shard_map(self, force_refresh=False):
          
          now = datetime.utcnow()
          if force_refresh is True or \
                          self.shard_map is None or \
                          (now - self.last_refresh).total_seconds() > self.refresh_ttl:
              self.last_refresh = now
              self.refresh_shard_map()
          return self.shard_map
docs: You can change this function to get the shard-map from somewhere/somehow place else in conjuction with
          save_shard_map().