Topic

Distributed Systems

Consistency, partitioning and the theory behind systems that span many machines.

Consistent Hashing Explained

How consistent hashing works, why it beats modulo hashing when servers change, how virtual nodes balance load, and where it’s used in caches and databases.

2 min read

CAP Theorem and PACELC in Plain English

The CAP theorem and its extension PACELC explained: consistency, availability and partition tolerance, what the trade-offs mean in practice and common myths.

2 min read

How CDNs Work

How CDNs work: edge locations, request routing, cache keys, Cache-Control headers, invalidation, origin shielding, security features and edge compute.

4 min read

Distributed Locks and Leases

How distributed locks and leases work, why process pauses break naive locks, fencing tokens, Redis, ZooKeeper, etcd and database locks, and alternatives.

4 min read