7 systems, dissected
Each system is a case study in different trade-offs. Understand one deeply, and every other system starts to feel familiar.
Dynamo
Key-value store. AP system. Always writeable.
Cassandra
Wide-column NoSQL. Dynamo architecture + BigTable data model.
BigTable
Wide-column store. Strong consistency on GFS + Chubby.
Kafka
Distributed commit log. Millions of messages per second.
GFS
Distributed file system. Optimized for large sequential I/O.
HDFS
Open-source GFS. The backbone of Hadoop ecosystem.
Chubby
Distributed lock service. Paxos behind a simple API.
20 design patterns
The building blocks that appear in every distributed system. Learn the pattern once, recognize it everywhere.
Data distribution
Replication & leadership
Durability
Failure detection
Consistency & conflicts
Anti-entropy & repair
Safety & coordination
Built for interviews and deep understanding
Interview angles
Every chapter includes practical advice for system design interviews — what to mention, what trade-offs to discuss, and how to connect concepts.
Cross-referenced
Systems link to the patterns they use. Patterns link back to the systems that implement them. The connections are where the real learning happens.
Quick reference
Every summary page has a quick reference card, a pattern linkage table, and links to the original papers. Useful during prep and on the job.