What this book covers
Chapter 1, Basics of System Design, provides an introduction to the field of system design. It explains the different types of system designs and emphasizes the importance of system design in the industry. This chapter sets the foundation for the rest of the book.
Chapter 2, Distributed System Attributes, delves into the fundamental concepts that underpin modern system design. It covers crucial topics such as consistency, availability, partition tolerance, latency, durability, reliability, and fault tolerance. Understanding these principles is essential for designing robust and scalable systems.
Chapter 3, Distributed Systems Theorems and Data Structures, explores the theoretical underpinnings of distributed systems. It covers important theorems and algorithms such as the CAP theorem, PACELC theorem, Paxos and Raft algorithms, and the Byzantine Generals Problem. It also introduces key concepts such as consistent hashing, Bloom filters, and HyperLogLog, which are frequently used in large-scale system design.
Chapter 4, Distributed Systems Building Blocks: DNS, Load Balancers, and Application Gateways, focuses on the core components of networked systems. It provides an in-depth look at DNS, load balancers, and application gateways, which are crucial for building scalable and reliable distributed systems.
Chapter 5, Design and Implementation of System Components — Databases and Storage, is dedicated to the various types of databases used in modern system design. It covers relational and NoSQL databases and dives into specific technologies such as Cassandra, HBase, DynamoDB, and S3. It also includes a section on designing a key-value store and an overview of Lucene search.
Chapter 6, Distributed Cache, explores the world of distributed caching. It covers the design of distributed cache systems and provides detailed information on popular caching solutions such as Redis and Memcached.
Chapter 7, Pub/Sub and Distributed Queues, focuses on designing distributed queues and publish-subscribe systems. It provides an in-depth look at technologies such as Kafka and Kinesis, which are crucial for building real-time data processing systems.
Chapter 8, Design and Implementation of System Components: API, Security, Metrics, covers the essential aspects of designing and maintaining APIs in distributed systems. It explores REST and gRPC protocols, API security basics, and the crucial components of system observability: logging, metrics, alerting, and tracing.
Chapters 9 to 16 are dedicated to real-world system design case studies. Each of these chapters follows a consistent structure:
- Requirements of the system
- High-level design
- Detailed design
- Evaluation of the design
These case studies cover a wide range of popular systems:
- Chapter 9: System Design – URL Shortener
- Chapter 10: System Design – Proximity Service
- Chapter 11: Designing a Service Like Twitter
- Chapter 12: Designing a Service Like Instagram
- Chapter 13: Designing a Service Like Google Docs
- Chapter 14: Designing a Service Like Netflix
- Chapter 15: Tips for Interviews
- Chapter 16: System Design Cheat Sheet
Note
By working through these case studies, readers will gain practical experience in applying system design principles to real-world scenarios. These chapters will help bridge the gap between theory and practice, providing invaluable insights into how large-scale systems are designed and implemented in industry.
The book concludes with guidance on approaching system design interviews. This section covers the format of system design interviews, what interviewers are looking for, and the importance of this type of interview in the hiring process. It also provides tips on asking relevant questions, considering boundary conditions, making back-of-the-envelope calculations and estimations, and designing systems based on access patterns.
