Technology Deep Dives
Interactive guides and simulators for core technologies used in modern system design. Learn how they work, when to use them, and practice with hands-on simulators.
Featured: Redis Deep Dive
InteractiveMaster Redis with our comprehensive guide covering data structures, operations, clustering, and real-world use cases. Includes an interactive simulator for hands-on learning.
Cache & Storage
Redis
In-memory data structure store used as database, cache, and message broker
Caching, session storage, real-time analytics, rate limiting
Object Storage
Scalable cloud storage for modern distributed applications
Data lakes, content distribution, backup, archival, static websites, media streaming
Memcached
High-performance distributed memory caching system
Database query caching, session storage, API response caching, content caching
Varnish Cache
HTTP accelerator designed for content-heavy dynamic web sites
HTTP acceleration, reverse proxy caching, CDN, API caching, load reduction
Hazelcast IMDG
In-memory data grid for distributed computing, caching, and real-time stream processing
Distributed caching, session clustering, event processing, stream analytics, real-time computing
Message Streaming
RabbitMQ
Enterprise message broker implementing AMQP for reliable message delivery
Message queuing, task distribution, microservices communication, event-driven architecture
Apache Kafka
Distributed event streaming platform for high-throughput data pipelines
Event streaming, log aggregation, real-time data processing, microservices communication
Apache Pulsar
Cloud-native distributed messaging and streaming platform
Event streaming, messaging, real-time analytics, IoT data processing
Apache ActiveMQ
Multi-protocol enterprise messaging broker
Enterprise messaging, JMS applications, IoT messaging, system integration
Amazon SQS
Fully managed message queuing service for decoupling applications
Decoupling microservices, batch job queuing, serverless applications, fault tolerance
Database
PostgreSQL
Advanced open-source relational database with extensive feature set
OLTP applications, complex queries, geospatial data, JSON documents
MongoDB
Document-oriented NoSQL database for modern applications
Document storage, rapid prototyping, content management, real-time analytics
Apache Cassandra
Wide-column NoSQL database designed for handling large amounts of data across many commodity servers
Time-series data, IoT applications, high-write workloads, globally distributed systems
ClickHouse
Column-oriented database management system for online analytical processing
Real-time analytics, data warehousing, log analysis, business intelligence
Amazon DynamoDB
Fully managed NoSQL database service with single-digit millisecond performance
Serverless applications, gaming, IoT, mobile backends, real-time personalization
MySQL
World's most popular open-source relational database
Web applications, OLTP systems, data warehousing, e-commerce platforms
SQLite
Self-contained, serverless, zero-configuration database engine
Mobile applications, embedded systems, desktop applications, prototyping
InfluxDB
Time series database designed for high-write and query loads
IoT sensor data, monitoring metrics, real-time analytics, DevOps monitoring
Neo4j
Graph database platform for connected data and complex relationships
Social networks, recommendation engines, fraud detection, knowledge graphs
Orchestration
Kubernetes
Container orchestration platform for automated deployment and scaling
Container orchestration, microservices deployment, auto-scaling, service discovery
Helm
Package manager for Kubernetes applications
Kubernetes package management, application deployment, release management
Monitoring
Prometheus
Open-source monitoring and alerting toolkit with a dimensional data model
Application monitoring, infrastructure metrics, alerting, time-series analysis
Grafana
Multi-platform open source analytics and interactive visualization web application
Data visualization, monitoring dashboards, alerting, business intelligence
API
GraphQL
Query language and runtime for APIs that provides a complete description of data
API development, mobile backends, microservices aggregation, real-time subscriptions
gRPC
High-performance RPC framework that can run in any environment
Microservices communication, mobile-backend APIs, high-performance services
Infrastructure
Terraform
Infrastructure as code tool for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely
Infrastructure provisioning, multi-cloud deployment, infrastructure automation
Proxies & Load Balancing
Traffic management and distribution for scalable system architectures
High availability, traffic distribution, SSL termination, caching, security
Ansible
Agentless automation tool for configuration management
Configuration management, application deployment, task automation, orchestration
Service Mesh
Master the dedicated infrastructure layer for microservices communication and security
Microservices communication, mTLS security, traffic management, observability, policy enforcement
Observability
Master comprehensive monitoring strategies with metrics, logs, and traces for system visibility and reliability
System monitoring, performance analysis, troubleshooting, SLA management, incident response
Database Patterns
Replication & Sharding
Database distribution patterns for scalable data architecture
High availability, horizontal scaling, fault tolerance, performance optimization
SSTables (Sorted String Tables)
Master the storage engine internals behind modern NoSQL databases
NoSQL databases, LSM trees, storage engines, high-write workloads, time-series data
Systems Concepts
Consistent Hashing
Distributed hashing technique for scalable data distribution
Load balancing, distributed caching, database sharding, CDN routing
Concurrency & Parallelism
Master concurrent and parallel programming patterns for high-performance applications
Multi-threaded applications, parallel computing, high-performance systems, concurrent data structures
Trie (Prefix Tree)
Master the tree data structure optimized for string operations and prefix matching
Autocomplete, spell checking, IP routing, text search, dictionary implementations
API & Communication
WebSocket
Full-duplex communication protocol for real-time web applications
Real-time chat, live updates, gaming, collaborative editing, trading platforms
WebRTC
Peer-to-peer real-time communication for web and mobile applications
Video calls, voice chat, screen sharing, file transfer, gaming
API Paradigms
Different API architectural styles and when to use each approach
Web APIs, microservices, mobile backends, real-time systems, integration platforms
API Design Principles
Master the art of designing developer-friendly, scalable, and maintainable APIs
RESTful APIs, versioning, authentication, documentation, error handling, testing
Web & Networking
HTTP/2 & HTTP/3
Modern web protocols for improved performance and efficiency
Web performance optimization, API acceleration, content delivery, mobile apps
UDP & TCP
Transport layer protocols for reliable and fast network communication
Web applications, real-time gaming, video streaming, file transfers, IoT
Cloud Platforms
Amazon Web Services
Comprehensive cloud computing platform with 200+ services
Web hosting, data storage, computing power, content delivery, machine learning
Google Cloud Platform
Google's cloud computing services with AI and ML focus
AI/ML workloads, data analytics, application development, hybrid cloud
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft's cloud platform for enterprise applications
Enterprise applications, hybrid cloud, .NET development, Windows workloads
DevOps & CI/CD
Jenkins
Open-source automation server for CI/CD pipelines
Continuous integration, automated testing, deployment pipelines, build automation
GitLab CI/CD
Integrated DevOps platform with built-in CI/CD capabilities
Source control, CI/CD pipelines, code review, issue tracking, monitoring
Security & Auth
OAuth 2.0
Authorization framework for secure API access
API authorization, third-party integrations, social login, microservices security
JSON Web Tokens
Compact, URL-safe means of representing claims between parties
Stateless authentication, information exchange, API security, microservices
Keycloak
Open-source identity and access management solution
Single sign-on, identity brokering, user federation, social login
Data Processing
MapReduce
Distributed computing programming model for processing large datasets
Big data processing, batch analytics, log analysis, data transformation, ETL pipelines
Stream Processing
Real-time data processing systems for continuous data streams
Real-time analytics, fraud detection, live recommendations, IoT data processing, event-driven systems
Resilience Patterns
Event Sourcing & CQRS
Master the architectural pattern that stores events as the source of truth with separated command and query models
Audit trails, temporal queries, complex domains, financial systems, event-driven architectures
Circuit Breakers
Master the resilience pattern that prevents cascading failures in distributed systems
Preventing cascade failures, fault tolerance, graceful degradation, system stability
Rate Limiting
Master traffic control patterns that protect APIs and services from overload while maintaining fair resource allocation
API protection, DDoS prevention, fair resource allocation, cost control, SLA enforcement
Chaos Engineering
Master building resilient systems through controlled failure testing and systematic reliability experiments
System resilience, failure testing, MTTR improvement, reliability validation, incident prevention
🎯 Recommended Learning Path
Master these technologies in the optimal order for system design proficiency.