Distributed Systems Engineer (L5), Content Engineering

Netflix

Could you explain what a deadlock is, providing a specific example to illustrate the concept?

Netflix

Design a Distributed Service Let's design a distributed service that can handle a large volume of requests while maintaining high availability and low latency. Consider a URL shortening service like TinyURL as an example. Specific Requirements: Functionality: The service should be able to: Accept a long URL and generate a unique short URL. Redirect users from the short URL to the original long URL. Scale: The service should be able to handle millions of URL shortening and redirection requests per day. Availability: The service should be highly available, with minimal downtime. Latency: The redirection from the short URL to the long URL should be as fast as possible. Storage: The service should efficiently store the mapping between short URLs and long URLs. Consider the Following Aspects in Your Design: Data Model:** How will you store the mapping between short and long URLs? What database technology will you use, and why? Algorithm for Short URL Generation:** How will you generate unique short URLs? How do you avoid collisions? System Architecture:** How will you distribute the load across multiple servers? What components will you use (e.g., load balancers, caches, databases)? Caching:** Where and how will you implement caching to improve performance? Fault Tolerance:** How will you ensure that the service remains available even if some servers fail? Monitoring and Alerting:** How will you monitor the health of the service and alert operators to potential problems? Walk me through your design, explaining the choices you make and the trade-offs involved. Be prepared to discuss alternatives and justify your decisions. For instance, why would you choose a relational database like MySQL over a NoSQL database like Cassandra, or vice versa? How would your design change if you needed to support custom short URLs?

Netflix

Describe a time when you had a deadline you couldn't meet. What did you do, and what was the outcome? For example, imagine you were tasked with developing a new feature for a popular mobile app with a launch date tied to a major industry event. Due to unforeseen technical complexities or resource constraints, it became clear that you wouldn't be able to deliver the complete feature set by the deadline. How did you communicate this to your team and stakeholders? What steps did you take to mitigate the impact of the missed deadline? Did you try to renegotiate the scope or timeline? How did you prioritize the remaining tasks, and what alternative solutions did you explore to deliver value within the limited timeframe? What did you learn from this experience, and how did it influence your approach to project management and deadline setting in subsequent projects?