Learn System Design & Ace Interviews
Learn essential concepts, patterns, and best practices for building distributed systems.
Understanding the difference between performance and scalability
Key metrics for system performance
Consistency, Availability, and Partition Tolerance
System reliability and availability characteristics
Internet Protocol addressing and network identification
Seven-layer network communication model
Transport layer protocols for reliable and fast communication
Patterns for achieving high availability in distributed systems
Distributing traffic across multiple servers for optimal performance
Hierarchical naming system that translates domain names to IP addresses
Grouping servers to work together as a single system
Intermediate servers for request handling and security
Real-time communication patterns for web applications
Choosing the right database type for your system requirements
Functional partitioning of databases by feature or service
Database consistency models for different system requirements
Database fundamentals and management systems
Relational databases with structured query language
Non-relational databases for flexible and scalable data storage
Database design techniques for data organization and performance
Architectural patterns for structuring applications
Single entry point for managing and routing API requests
Locating services in distributed systems
Layered architecture pattern for application design
Centralized integration pattern for enterprise applications
Storing frequently accessed data for quick retrieval
Global distribution of static content
Distributing data across nodes with minimal reorganization
Breaking large databases into smaller, manageable pieces
Intermediate servers for request handling and caching
Spatial data structures for location-based services
Virtualization technologies for resource isolation and efficiency
Data storage technologies and architectures
Breaking monoliths into independent services
Asynchronous communication between services
Storing data as a sequence of events rather than current state
Separating read and write operations for optimal performance
Essential security considerations
API technologies for different use cases and requirements
Preventing cascading failures in distributed systems
Modern authentication and authorization protocols
Unified authentication across multiple applications
Planning and implementing system recovery strategies
Controlling request frequency to protect system resources
Service level definitions for reliability and performance
Security protocols for encrypted communication
Design a service like Pastebin where users can store and share text
Design a social media platform like Twitter
Design a service like bit.ly that shortens URLs
Design a photo sharing service like Instagram
Design a video sharing platform like YouTube
Design a real-time suggestion service for search
Design a rate limiting system to throttle API requests
Design a web crawler that systematically browses the web
Design a real-time messaging service like WhatsApp
Design a video streaming service like Netflix
Design a ride-sharing service like Uber
Master the structured approach from "Grok System Design Interview" used at top tech companies
Define the exact scope and goals of the system
Define the APIs that the system will expose
Estimate scale, storage, and bandwidth requirements
Define data entities and their relationships
Create a block diagram of core system components
Deep dive into 2-3 critical components
Find and resolve system bottlenecks and failure points