Mastering System Design Interviews: Building Scalable Web Crawlers

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Web Crawler Designs

Can a simple idea like building a web crawler teach you the intricacies of system design? Join me, Ben Kitchell, as we uncover this fascinating intersection. Returning from a brief pause, I'm eager to guide you through the essential building blocks of a web crawler, from queuing seed URLs to parsing new links autonomously. These basic functionalities are your gateway to creating a minimum viable product or acing that system design interview. You’ll gain insights into potential extensions like scheduled crawling and page prioritization, ensuring a strong foundation for tackling real-world challenges.

Managing a billion URLs a month is no small feat, and scaling such a system requires meticulous planning. We’ll break down the daunting numbers into digestible pieces, exploring how to efficiently store six petabytes of data annually. By examining different database models, you’ll learn how to handle URLs, track visit timestamps, and keep data searchable. The focus is on creating a robust system that not only scales but does so in a way that meets evolving demands without compromising on performance.

Navigating the complexities of designing a web crawler means making critical decisions about data storage and system architecture. We’ll weigh the benefits of using cloud storage solutions like AWS S3 and Azure Blob Storage against maintaining dedicated servers. Discover the role of REST APIs in seamless user and service interactions, and explore search functionalities using Cassandra, Amazon Athena, or Google’s BigQuery. Flexibility and foresight are key as we build systems that adapt to future needs. Thank you for your continued support—let’s keep learning and growing on this exciting system design journey together.

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