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System Design Blueprint: The Ultimate Guide.

We've created a template to tackle various system design problems in interviews.

Hope this checklist is useful to guide your discussions during the interview process.

This briefly touches on the following discussion points:

  • Load Balancing
  • API Gateway
  • Communication Protocols
  • Content Delivery Network (CDN)
  • Database
  • Cache
  • Message Queue
  • Unique ID Generation
  • Scalability
  • Availability
  • Performance
  • Security
  • Fault Tolerance and Resilience
  • And more

Load Balancing​

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Load balancing is a technique used to distribute network or application traffic across multiple servers. This distribution helps enhance the responsiveness and availability of applications. It plays a pivotal (关键的) role in managing large volumes of user requests, preventing any single server from becoming a bottleneck.

Types & Techniques​

  • Hardware vs. Software Load Balancers: Hardware load balancers are dedicated appliances, whereas software load balancers are more flexible and can run on commodity hardware.

  • Load Balancing Algorithms: Common algorithms include round-robin, where requests are distributed sequentially; least connections, which routes traffic to the server with the fewest active connections; and IP hash, which assigns user requests based on IP address.

API Gateway​

API gateway acts as the front-door for all API requests. It routes requests to the appropriate microservices and aggregates the results into cohesive responses.

Functionality​

  • Request Routing: Directs incoming requests to the correct microservices.
  • Protocol Translation: Converts various protocol formats to ensure seamless communication between disparate services.

Communication Protocols​

  • HTTP/HTTPS: The foundation of data communication on the World Wide Web.
  • WebSocket: Enables two-way interactive communication sessions between the user's browser and a server.
  • MQTT: Lightweight messaging protocol, ideal for IoT devices.

Content Delivery Network (CDN)​

CDNs cache content in various locations closer to the end-users (edge servers). This reduces latency since requests are served from the nearest location.

Implementation Strategies​

  • Push vs. Pull CDNs: Push CDNs require content to be manually pushed to the CDN servers, while pull CDNs automatically cache content based on user requests.
  • Cache Invalidation: Efficient cache invalidation strategies are crucial for ensuring users receive the most updated content.

Database​

Types of Databases​

  • SQL Databases: Use structured query language (SQL) for defining and manipulating data. Ideal for complex queries and ACID transactions.
  • NoSQL Databases: More flexible in terms of schema and typically offer horizontal scaling. Useful for large sets of distributed data.

Design Considerations​

  • Schema Design: Involves structuring data optimally for query efficiency.
  • Indexing: Indexes improve the speed of data retrieval but require careful management as they can slow down write operations.

... to be continue

References​

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/system-design-blue-print-dushyant-bhatt-u2vxc/?trackingId=RsdTne9HS8%2BhzLA7uVzWHg%3D%3D