System Design Principles for Scalability

Utpal Phukan - Digital Craftsman, Story Weaver, Sound Sculptor

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June 15, 2024
System Architecture

System Design Principles for Scalability

Designing for scale requires a different mindset than designing for a single machine.

Horizontal vs. Vertical Scaling

  • Vertical Scaling (Scale Up): Adding more power (CPU, RAM) to an existing machine. Limited by hardware.
  • Horizontal Scaling (Scale Out): Adding more machines to the pool. Theoretically infinite scalability.

Load Balancing

Distributing traffic across multiple servers is essential for availability and performance. Algorithms like Round Robin, Least Connections, and IP Hash help distribute load effectively.

Caching

Caching is the secret sauce of performance.

  • CDN: Caches static assets closer to the user.
  • Redis/Memcached: Caches database queries and session data.

Conclusion

Understanding these principles is key to building systems that can handle millions of users.