# System Design Interview – An Insider's Guide ![rw-book-cover](https://readwise-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/media/uploaded_book_covers/profile_1300767/BWS0sPO_J90i4KFlygCuTLYdP92HS5pNq97ctU98tBk-cover-00230.jpeg) ## Metadata - Author: [[Alex Xu]] - Full Title: System Design Interview – An Insider's Guide - Category: #books - Document Tags: [[shortlist]] - Summary: The text discusses the design of a stateless architecture where web servers handle user requests and fetch data from a shared store, making the system simpler and more scalable. It also highlights the importance of data replication and sharding to ensure availability and performance across multiple servers. Additionally, concepts like availability, consistency, and reliability are crucial for the success of large systems. ## Highlights - CHAPTER 2: BACK-OF-THE-ENVELOPE ESTIMATION ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kvgpbcz11q05fhcsnk6ehe7w)) - Note: not that important - not so important for these interviews now - CHAPTER 4: DESIGN A RATE LIMITER ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kvgpdz5k4ye65y6sskyyd3kc)) - Note: more infra related - CHAPTER 5: DESIGN CONSISTENT HASHING ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kvgpe8fx4wcpnc4rn67570d8)) - Note: infra related - CHAPTER 8: DESIGN A URL SHORTENER ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kvgpen176n5kgbzqmfjz7qnv)) - Note: don't look at (future interview) - Cloud storage: A file is split into smaller blocks and stored in cloud storage. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jn75zcjx04dzdfp7jqhdqr7j))