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Only 1 Post to Help You Understand the Big Picture of System Design

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98 SYSTEM DESIGN CONCEPTS FOR BEGINNERS


1. Scalability

Concept: The system can handle more users without slowing down.
Why use it: To prevent the system from becoming slow or crashing as traffic grows.
How to use it: Upgrade the server or add more servers.


2. Availability

Concept: Users can access the system whenever they need it.
Why use it: To reduce service downtime.
How to use it: Run multiple servers and prepare backup servers.


3. Reliability

Concept: The system works correctly and rarely fails.
Why use it: To provide stable and accurate results.
How to use it: Test the system, back up data, and handle errors carefully.


4. Latency

Concept: The time between sending a request and receiving a response.
Why use it: Lower latency makes the application feel faster.
How to use it: Use caching, a CDN, and faster database queries.


5. Throughput

Concept: The number of requests a system can process in a period of time.
Why use it: To measure how much work the system can handle.
How to use it: Measure requests, transactions, or data processed per second.


6. Capacity

Concept: The maximum workload a system can handle.
Why use it: To know when the system needs more resources.
How to use it: Run load tests to find CPU, memory, and request limits.


7. Client–Server

Concept: The client sends a request, and the server processes it and returns a result.
Why use it: To separate the user interface from data processing.
How to use it: A browser calls a server API to get data.


8. Database

Concept: A place where system data is stored.
Why use it: To save data permanently and find it easily.
How to use it: Store users, products, orders, and transactions.


9. SQL vs NoSQL

Concept: SQL stores data in tables, while NoSQL supports more flexible formats.
Why use it: Different systems need different ways to store data.
How to use it: Use SQL for related data and NoSQL for flexible or large-scale data.


10. Load Balancing

Concept: It shares requests across multiple servers.
Why use it: To stop one server from becoming overloaded.
How to use it: Place a load balancer in front of application servers.


11. Caching

Concept: Frequently used data is saved temporarily for faster access.
Why use it: To improve response time and reduce database load.
How to use it: Store popular data in Redis or memory.


12. Cache Invalidation

Concept: Old cached data is removed or updated.
Why use it: To prevent users from seeing outdated information.
How to use it: Clear the cache when the original data changes or expires.


13. CDN

Concept: A network of servers that stores content in different locations.
Why use it: To help users load images, videos, and files faster.
How to use it: Store static files on servers close to users.


14. DNS

Concept: It changes a domain name into an IP address.
Why use it: Users can remember a name instead of a number.
How to use it: Point a domain name to a server or load balancer.


15. API Design

Concept: The way applications communicate with each other.
Why use it: To make APIs clear, easy to use, and easy to maintain.
How to use it: Clearly define URLs, inputs, outputs, and error codes.


16. REST

Concept: An API style that uses URLs and HTTP methods.
Why use it: It is simple, popular, and easy to connect with other systems.
How to use it: Use GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE for common actions.


17. GraphQL

Concept: The client asks for exactly the data it needs.
Why use it: To avoid receiving too much or too little data.
How to use it: Send a query containing the required fields.


18. gRPC

Concept: A fast way for services to communicate.
Why use it: It is often faster and smaller than text-based APIs.
How to use it: Define functions with Protocol Buffers and call them from another service.


19. Authentication

Concept: It checks who the user is.
Why use it: To stop strangers from accessing an account.
How to use it: Use passwords, OTPs, tokens, or biometrics.


20. Authorization

Concept: It checks what a user is allowed to do.
Why use it: To stop users from accessing functions they do not have permission to use.
How to use it: Check roles and permissions before allowing an action.


21. Rate Limiting

Concept: It limits how many API requests can be sent in a period of time.
Why use it: To prevent spam, attacks, and excessive usage.
How to use it: For example, allow each user 100 requests per minute.


22. Fault Tolerance

Concept: The system still works when one part fails.
Why use it: To stop one small failure from crashing the whole system.
How to use it: Use backup servers, retries, and automatic failover.


23. High Availability

Concept: The system is almost always available.
Why use it: To reduce service interruptions.
How to use it: Run several copies of the system on different servers or locations.


24. CAP Theorem

Concept: During a network failure, a distributed system must choose between consistency and availability.
Why use it: To help choose the right design for a distributed system.
How to use it: Choose the priority based on the system, such as banking or social media.


25. Consistency Models

Concept: They define when users can see the latest data.
Why use it: To balance correct data with system speed and availability.
How to use it: Choose strong consistency or eventual consistency.


26. Replication

Concept: Data is copied to several servers.
Why use it: To improve reading speed and reduce the risk of data loss.
How to use it: One main server writes data, and other servers keep copies.


27. Partitioning

Concept: A large amount of data is divided into smaller parts.
Why use it: To make data easier to store and process.
How to use it: Divide data by date, region, customer, or type.


28. Sharding

Concept: Data is divided across multiple database servers.
Why use it: So one database does not need to store everything.
How to use it: Divide users by ID, country, or region.


29. Indexing

Concept: An index works like a table of contents for data.
Why use it: To find data without scanning the entire table.
How to use it: Add indexes to columns that are often searched or sorted.


30. Denormalization

Concept: Some data is copied to make reading faster.
Why use it: To reduce the number of table joins.
How to use it: Store the customer name directly inside an order record.


31. ACID

Concept: A set of rules that keeps database transactions safe.
Why use it: To prevent incorrect or incomplete updates.
How to use it: Use transactions for payments, transfers, and orders.


32. BASE

Concept: The system stays available even when data is not immediately the same everywhere.
Why use it: It works well for large distributed systems.
How to use it: Allow servers to synchronize data after a short delay.


33. Microservices

Concept: An application is divided into small independent services.
Why use it: Each service can be developed and deployed separately.
How to use it: Separate user, payment, and order services.


34. Monolith

Concept: All application functions are inside one large application.
Why use it: It is easier to build and deploy at the beginning.
How to use it: Keep the interface, business logic, and data access in one project.


35. Event-Driven Architecture

Concept: The system reacts when an event happens.
Why use it: To reduce direct dependency between system components.
How to use it: When an order is created, send events to email and inventory services.


36. Message Queue

Concept: A queue stores tasks that need to be processed.
Why use it: The sender does not need to wait for the receiver.
How to use it: Put email sending or image processing into a queue.


37. Pub/Sub

Concept: One service publishes an event, and many services receive it.
Why use it: One event can trigger several actions.
How to use it: A successful payment event can update inventory, email, and reports.


38. Synchronous vs Asynchronous

Concept: Synchronous work waits for a result; asynchronous work continues without waiting.
Why use it: To choose the right processing style for each task.
How to use it: Use synchronous processing for payments and asynchronous processing for emails.


39. Idempotency

Concept: Sending the same request many times still creates only one final result.
Why use it: To avoid duplicate payments or orders.
How to use it: Give each payment request a unique ID.


40. Backpressure

Concept: The receiver asks the sender to slow down.
Why use it: To prevent the receiver from becoming overloaded.
How to use it: Limit the queue size or process data in smaller groups.


41. Circuit Breaker

Concept: The system temporarily stops calling a failing service.
Why use it: To avoid sending more requests to a service that is already broken.
How to use it: Stop calls after several failures and try again later.


42. Bulkhead

Concept: System parts are separated from each other.
Why use it: A failure in one part does not affect the whole system.
How to use it: Give each service its own resources and connection pool.


43. Retry Logic

Concept: The system automatically tries again after a failure.
Why use it: To recover from temporary network or service problems.
How to use it: Retry after 1 second, then 2 seconds, then 4 seconds.


44. Timeout

Concept: The system stops waiting after a set amount of time.
Why use it: To stop requests from waiting forever.
How to use it: Set a maximum waiting time for APIs and databases.


45. Service Discovery

Concept: Services can find the addresses of other services.
Why use it: Service addresses may change when the system scales.
How to use it: Register service addresses in a central system.


46. API Gateway

Concept: A central entry point that sends requests to the correct service.
Why use it: To manage routing, authentication, and rate limits in one place.
How to use it: The client calls the gateway, and the gateway calls the correct service.


47. Load Shedding

Concept: The system rejects some requests when it is overloaded.
Why use it: To keep important services working.
How to use it: Drop low-priority requests or return a “system busy” message.


48. Autoscaling

Concept: The system automatically adds or removes servers.
Why use it: To handle high traffic and save money during low traffic.
How to use it: Add servers when CPU usage or traffic passes a limit.


49. Blue-Green Deployment

Concept: The old and new versions run in two separate environments.
Why use it: To release a new version with little downtime.
How to use it: Test the new environment and then move traffic to it.


50. Canary Release

Concept: A small group of users receives the new version first.
Why use it: To find problems before releasing to everyone.
How to use it: Send 5% of traffic to the new version and increase it slowly.


51. Feature Flags

Concept: A switch that turns a feature on or off.
Why use it: To control releases without deploying new code.
How to use it: Enable a feature for employees or a small user group first.


52. Observability

Concept: The ability to understand what is happening inside the system.
Why use it: To find the cause of problems faster.
How to use it: Combine logs, metrics, and tracing.


53. Logging

Concept: Recording events that happen inside the system.
Why use it: To investigate errors and understand system activity.
How to use it: Record time, requests, errors, and processing details.


54. Metrics

Concept: Numbers that show the health and performance of the system.
Why use it: To know whether the system is fast, slow, or overloaded.
How to use it: Track CPU, memory, requests, error rate, and latency.


55. Tracing

Concept: Following one request through multiple services.
Why use it: To find which service caused a delay or error.
How to use it: Add a trace ID and record every processing step.


56. Correlation ID

Concept: A shared ID used by all logs for the same request.
Why use it: To find the complete history of one request.
How to use it: Create the ID when the request starts and pass it through all services.


57. Monitoring

Concept: Continuously watching the system.
Why use it: To find problems before they affect many users.
How to use it: Use dashboards to watch servers, databases, and APIs.


58. Alerting

Concept: Sending a warning when the system has a problem.
Why use it: To help the operations team respond quickly.
How to use it: Send an email or message when errors or CPU usage become too high.


59. Full-Text Search

Concept: Searching for words or sentences inside text.
Why use it: To quickly search articles, products, or documents.
How to use it: Index the content with Elasticsearch or a similar tool.


60. Time Series

Concept: Data recorded at different points in time.
Why use it: To track how something changes over time.
How to use it: Store CPU usage, stock prices, or temperature readings.


61. Vector Database

Concept: A database that finds data with similar meaning.
Why use it: It is useful for AI search, images, and similar text.
How to use it: Convert data into vectors and search for the nearest vectors.


62. Materialized View

Concept: A query result that is calculated and saved in advance.
Why use it: To make complex reports load faster.
How to use it: Save daily or monthly sales summaries.


63. Query Optimization

Concept: Improving a database query so it runs faster.
Why use it: To reduce latency and resource usage.
How to use it: Add indexes, read less data, and check the query plan.


64. Connection Pooling

Concept: Reusing database connections that are already open.
Why use it: Opening a new connection for every request is slow and expensive.
How to use it: Create a shared pool of database connections.


65. Cache Stampede

Concept: Many requests hit the database when cached data expires.
Why use it: It must be prevented because it can overload the database.
How to use it: Lock cache refreshes or use different expiration times.


66. Cache Warming

Concept: Loading data into the cache before users request it.
Why use it: The first user does not need to wait for the database.
How to use it: Load popular products into the cache before peak hours.


67. CDN Caching

Concept: Saving copies of content on CDN servers.
Why use it: To help users in different regions load content faster.
How to use it: Cache images, videos, CSS, and JavaScript files.


68. Data Compression

Concept: Making data smaller before storing or sending it.
Why use it: To save storage space and network bandwidth.
How to use it: Compress files, images, or API responses with gzip.


69. Serialization

Concept: Changing an object into a format that can be stored or sent.
Why use it: Systems cannot directly send objects from memory.
How to use it: Convert objects into JSON, XML, or Protocol Buffers.


70. Deserialization

Concept: Changing received data back into an object.
Why use it: The application needs objects to continue processing.
How to use it: Convert a JSON response into an application object.


71. WebSockets

Concept: The client and server keep a two-way connection open.
Why use it: To send real-time updates without repeated requests.
How to use it: Use it for chat, notifications, and live prices.


72. WebRTC

Concept: A technology for real-time audio, video, and data communication.
Why use it: To support low-latency video calls.
How to use it: Use it for online meetings, video calls, and screen sharing.


73. CQRS

Concept: Reading data and writing data use separate models.
Why use it: Each side can be optimized for its own purpose.
How to use it: Use one model for updates and another for displaying data.


74. Event Sourcing

Concept: Every change to the data is stored as an event.
Why use it: To view history and rebuild an earlier state.
How to use it: Store events such as order created, paid, and cancelled.


75. Service Mesh

Concept: A layer that manages communication between microservices.
Why use it: To manage security, routing, and monitoring in one place.
How to use it: Place a proxy beside each service to manage traffic.


76. Sidecar

Concept: A supporting component that runs beside the main application.
Why use it: To add functions without changing much application code.
How to use it: Use a sidecar for proxying, logging, or security.


77. BFF – Backend for Frontend

Concept: Each type of frontend has its own backend.
Why use it: Web and mobile applications often need different data.
How to use it: Create one backend for the web and another for mobile.


78. Strangler Pattern

Concept: Replacing an old system one part at a time.
Why use it: To reduce the risk of rewriting the entire system.
How to use it: Move each function from the old system to the new system gradually.


79. LSM Trees

Concept: A data structure designed for fast writing.
Why use it: It works well for systems that write a lot of data.
How to use it: Write data to memory first and organize it on disk later.


80. B-Trees

Concept: A tree structure that helps find data quickly on disk.
Why use it: It is useful for exact searches and range searches.
How to use it: Databases often use B-Trees for indexes.


81. Merkle Trees

Concept: A tree of hashes that represents data.
Why use it: To compare and check data without reading everything.
How to use it: Compare hashes between nodes to find different data.


82. Bloom Filter

Concept: A fast structure that checks whether data may exist.
Why use it: To avoid database queries when data definitely does not exist.
How to use it: Check the Bloom Filter before reading the real database.


83. HyperLogLog

Concept: An algorithm that estimates the number of unique items.
Why use it: To count approximately while using very little memory.
How to use it: Estimate unique users or IP addresses.


84. MapReduce

Concept: Data is divided, processed, and then combined.
Why use it: To process very large datasets across many machines.
How to use it: Map processes the data, and Reduce combines the results.


85. Batch Processing

Concept: Data is collected and processed in groups.
Why use it: It works well when results are not needed immediately.
How to use it: Generate daily reports or calculate salaries at the end of the month.


86. Stream Processing

Concept: Data is processed as soon as it arrives.
Why use it: To produce near real-time results.
How to use it: Process transactions, sensor data, or user events continuously.


87. ETL

Concept: Extract data, transform it, and load it into another system.
Why use it: To clean and standardize data from different sources.
How to use it: Extract sales data, clean it, and load it into a reporting system.


88. Data Pipeline

Concept: An automatic flow that moves and processes data.
Why use it: To reduce manual work and keep data updated.
How to use it: Connect data sources, processing steps, and storage systems.


89. Data Lake

Concept: A storage system for many types of raw data.
Why use it: To store data now and decide how to use it later.
How to use it: Store logs, files, images, videos, and sensor data.


90. Data Warehouse

Concept: A storage system for cleaned and organized reporting data.
Why use it: To make business analysis faster and more consistent.
How to use it: Combine sales, customer, and financial data.


91. Secrets Management

Concept: Secure management of passwords, tokens, and API keys.
Why use it: To stop secret information from appearing in source code.
How to use it: Store secrets in a secure tool and control access.


92. RBAC

Concept: Permissions are given based on user roles.
Why use it: To manage access more easily when there are many users.
How to use it: Create roles such as Admin, Manager, and User.


93. SSO

Concept: Users sign in once and access multiple systems.
Why use it: Users do not need to remember many passwords.
How to use it: Connect applications to one central login system.


94. Encryption

Concept: Data is changed into a form that strangers cannot read.
Why use it: To protect data when it is stored or sent over a network.
How to use it: Encrypt HTTPS traffic, databases, files, and sensitive information.


95. Checksum

Concept: A value used to check whether data has changed.
Why use it: To detect damaged or modified files.
How to use it: Calculate the checksum before and after transfer, then compare the values.


96. Erasure Coding

Concept: Data is divided into pieces that can be used for recovery.
Why use it: Data can still be restored even when some pieces are lost.
How to use it: Store the pieces on different disks or servers.


97. Consensus

Concept: Multiple servers agree on the same state or result.
Why use it: To prevent servers from storing different results.
How to use it: Servers vote and accept the result supported by the majority.


98. Leader Election

Concept: The servers choose one server to coordinate the others.
Why use it: To prevent several servers from doing the same important task.
How to use it: Servers vote, and when the leader fails, they choose a new leader.

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