System Design Fundamentals
Core concepts every engineer should know
Availability vs Reliability: Understanding the Difference
Availability and reliability are two of the most critical non-functional requirements in system design. They are often used interchangeably, but they measu...
CAP Theorem Explained: Consistency, Availability, and Partition Tolerance
The CAP theorem is one of the most fundamental concepts in distributed systems. Proposed by computer scientist Eric Brewer in 2000 and formally proven by S...
Consistency Models in Distributed Systems: A Complete Guide
In a distributed system, data is replicated across multiple nodes for fault tolerance and performance. But replication creates a fundamental question: when...
Fault Tolerance in System Design: Building Systems That Survive Failures
Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to continue operating correctly even when one or more components fail. In distributed systems, failures are not ...
Functional vs Non-Functional Requirements in System Design
Every successful system begins with well-defined requirements. In system design, requirements fall into two fundamental categories: functional requirements...
High Availability: Architecture Patterns and Strategies
High availability (HA) means designing systems that remain operational and accessible for the maximum possible time, typically targeting 99.9% uptime or hi...
Latency vs Throughput: Understanding the Key Performance Trade-off
Latency and throughput are the two most fundamental performance metrics in system design. Every engineer must understand what they mean, how they relate to...
Monolith vs Distributed Systems: Architecture Choices That Define Your System
One of the most consequential architecture decisions is whether to build a monolithic application or a distributed system. This choice affects development ...
Scalability: Horizontal vs Vertical Scaling Explained
Scalability is the ability of a system to handle increased load by adding resources. It is one of the most discussed topics in system design because every ...
SLA, SLO, and SLI: The Complete Guide to Service Level Metrics
In production systems, you need a precise language for defining, measuring, and communicating reliability. SLA, SLO, and SLI provide that language. They fo...
System Design Basics: A Complete Guide for Engineers
System design is the process of defining the architecture, components, modules, interfaces, and data flow of a system to satisfy specified requirements. Wh...
Trade-offs in System Design: The Decisions That Shape Architecture
System design is fundamentally about making trade-offs. There is no perfect architecture — every design decision involves choosing one benefit at the expen...