DEV Community

Cover image for Pre-requisites: How I Calculate Capacity for Systems Design - 1
ZeeshanAli-0704
ZeeshanAli-0704

Posted on

1

Pre-requisites: How I Calculate Capacity for Systems Design - 1

Part 2: How I Calculate Capacity for Systems Design - 2

Capacity Estimation in System Design

Capacity estimation is essential to ensure that a system can handle its expected load and perform efficiently. It involves calculating the resources needed for processing/traffic handling, storage, and network bandwidth.

Key Rules for System Design Estimation Calculations

  1. Rounding Approximations

    • Simplify calculations by rounding to more manageable numbers.
    • Example: Instead of calculating for 86,400 seconds in a day, use 100,000 (100K) seconds to simplify.
  2. Powers of 2 and 10

    • Familiarize yourself with powers of 2 and 10 for quick estimations.
    • Example values for powers of 2: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc.
    • Example values for powers of 10:
      • (10^1 = 10)
      • (10^2 = 100)
      • (10^3 = 1,000)
      • (10^6 = 1,000,000) (1 million)
      • (10^9 = 1,000,000,000) (1 billion)
      • (10^{12} = 1,000,000,000,000) (1 trillion)
  3. Metric System

    • Use metric system units for large numbers:
      • 1 million = (10^6)
      • 1 billion = (10^9)
      • 1 trillion = (10^{12})
  4. Storage Capacity

    • Understand common storage units:
      • 1 KB = (10^3) bytes
      • 1 MB = (10^6) bytes
      • 1 GB = (10^9) bytes
      • 1 TB = (10^{12}) bytes
      • 1 PB = (10^{15}) bytes
  • Storage Assumption
Storage Assumption Size
Single Char 2 bytes
Long/Double 8 bytes
Image 200 KB
Video 2 MB
  1. Key Metrics to Memorize

    • 1 million requests per day ≈ 12 requests/second
    • 1 million requests per minute ≈ 700 requests/second
    • 1 million requests per hour ≈ 4,200 requests/minute
  2. Latency Numbers

    • Familiarize yourself with common latency benchmarks to make informed decisions during system design.

Note: Google for a table of latency benchmarks for more details.

Table for Powers of 2 and 10

Power of 2 Value Power of 10 Value
(2^1) 2 (10^1) 10
(2^2) 4 (10^2) 100
(2^3) 8 (10^3) 1,000
(2^4) 16 (10^6) 1,000,000
(2^5) 32 (10^9) 1,000,000,000
(2^6) 64 (10^{12}) 1,000,000,000,000

Article 2: How I Calculate Capacity for Systems Design - 2

More Details:

Get all articles related to system design
Hastag: SystemDesignWithZeeshanAli

Git: https://github.com/ZeeshanAli-0704/SystemDesignWithZeeshanAli

Top comments (0)

👋 Kindness is contagious

Discover a treasure trove of wisdom within this insightful piece, highly respected in the nurturing DEV Community enviroment. Developers, whether novice or expert, are encouraged to participate and add to our shared knowledge basin.

A simple "thank you" can illuminate someone's day. Express your appreciation in the comments section!

On DEV, sharing ideas smoothens our journey and strengthens our community ties. Learn something useful? Offering a quick thanks to the author is deeply appreciated.

Okay