Scaling Distributed Systems

Distributed systems present unique challenges in design, implementation, and maintenance. This post explores practical strategies for building scalable distributed systems.

Core Principles

Understanding these fundamental principles is crucial:

• CAP theorem implications
• Eventual consistency
• Fault tolerance
• Data partitioning

Scaling Strategies

Different approaches to scaling serve different needs:

• Horizontal vs. vertical scaling
• Load balancing techniques
• Caching strategies
• Database sharding

Monitoring and Observability

Effective monitoring is essential for distributed systems:

• Metrics collection
• Distributed tracing
• Log aggregation
• Alert systems

Common Pitfalls

Learn from these common mistakes:

• Network partition handling
• State management
• Cache invalidation
• Deployment strategies