Systems design is the process of planning and structuring software systems so they are scalable, reliable, and maintainable. It’s about how different components of a system interact and how the system meets requirements under real-world constraints like traffic, data volume, and availability.
In practical terms, systems design answers questions like:
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How do we store and retrieve data efficiently?
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How do we handle millions of concurrent users?
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How do components communicate with each other reliably?
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How do we ensure the system stays available even if some parts fail?
Node-A:: Define Problem & Requirements
The initial phase is where the business problem, scope, goals, and high-level constraints are established.
Node-B:: Gathering User Stories & Use Cases
The process of detailed elicitation, interviewing stakeholders, and documenting specific functional and non-functional needs from the user perspective.
Key Concepts
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Scalability – Can the system handle growth (more users, data, or requests)?
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Horizontal scaling: adding more servers
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Vertical scaling: upgrading a server
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Reliability – Can the system continue to operate even if parts fail?
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Redundancy, failover mechanisms
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Maintainability – Can the system be updated or fixed easily?
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Modular architecture, clean interfaces
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Performance – How fast and responsive is the system?
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Latency, throughput, caching
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Trade-offs – Systems design often involves balancing consistency, availability, and partition tolerance (CAP theorem), or speed vs storage efficiency.
Why It Matters
Good systems design ensures that your application can handle real-world usage, grow without breaking, and stay maintainable as features evolve. It’s essential for building large-scale applications like social networks, e-commerce platforms, or cloud services.