Can you design a tiny URL shortener system architecture?
This system design question explores your ability to scale services and handle high traffic loads. It covers database choices and load balancing.
Why Interviewers Ask This
Microsoft wants to see if you can architect distributed systems that remain reliable under heavy load. It tests your knowledge of hashing, caching, and database sharding strategies for global scalability.
How to Answer This Question
Start by defining requirements like latency and throughput. Propose a service that generates unique IDs and maps them to long URLs. Discuss database options like NoSQL for flexibility. Mention caching layers like Redis to reduce read latency and discuss handling collisions.
Key Points to Cover
- Define functional requirements
- Design ID generation strategy
- Implement caching layer
- Ensure data consistency
Sample Answer
I would design a service that takes a long URL, hashes it to create a short key, and stores the mapping. For high availability, I'd use consistent hashing across multiple nodes. A CDN would cache popular redirects to min…
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Ignoring collision handling
- Overlooking scaling needs
- Neglecting security aspects
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