#caching #reliability-engineering #distributed-systems #system-design When Caches Bite Back: Stampedes, Avalanches, and Penetration When Caches Bite Back: Stampedes, Avalanches, and Penetration October 27, 2026 · 8 min read The cache that made your system fast can also take it down. Three failure modes, the 2010 Facebook outage, and how to defend against each. Part 6 of 8. Open →
#caching #http #cdn #system-design Every Layer Is a Cache: From Browser to CDN to Database Every Layer Is a Cache: From Browser to CDN to Database October 26, 2026 · 7 min read A request can stop at six different caches before it reaches your database. Here's how HTTP caching works, and how it goes wrong. Part 5 of 8. Open →
#caching #distributed-systems #consistency #system-design Cache Invalidation: Why It's Really One of the Two Hard Problems Cache Invalidation: Why It's Really One of the Two Hard Problems October 22, 2026 · 8 min read TTLs, deletes, versions, and the race condition that leaves stale data in your cache forever. Part 4 of the 8-part caching series. Open →
#caching #algorithms #system-design #performance Who Gets Evicted? LRU, LFU, and the Algorithms Inside Real Caches Who Gets Evicted? LRU, LFU, and the Algorithms Inside Real Caches October 20, 2026 · 11 min read Caches are always full. How eviction policies decide what to throw out, why LRU gets fooled by scans, and how to build an LRU yourself. Part 3 of 8. Open →
#caching #backend-development #system-design #databases Cache-Aside, Write-Through, Write-Behind: How Your Cache Talks to Your Database Cache-Aside, Write-Through, Write-Behind: How Your Cache Talks to Your Database October 14, 2026 · 7 min read Five ways to wire a cache to a database, what each one costs you, and how to pick. Part 2 of the 8-part caching series. Open →
#caching #backend-development #system-design #performance Caching 101: The 100x Trick Behind Every Fast System Caching 101: The 100x Trick Behind Every Fast System October 10, 2026 · 8 min read What a cache actually is, why it works, and the one formula that tells you if yours is helping. Part 1 of an 8-part series on caching. Open →
#career #amazon #google #engineering-culture Two Companies, One Engineer: The Muscles Amazon and Google Built in Me Two Companies, One Engineer: The Muscles Amazon and Google Built in Me September 27, 2026 · 10 min read Three and a half years at Amazon, one year at Google - what actually changes when you switch, beyond the obvious. Open →
#backend-development #databases #system-design #distributed-systems Transactions: The Art of All or Nothing Transactions: The Art of All or Nothing April 18, 2026 · 6 min read A deep dive into database transactions - the beauty and the nightmare. Open →
#backend-development #software-architecture #distributed-systems #reliability-engineering Why "Good Enough" Isn't Good Enough for Your Data: The Power of ACID 🛡️💾 Why "Good Enough" Isn't Good Enough for Your Data: The Power of ACID 🛡️💾 April 12, 2026 · 2 min read This post breaks down ACID—the gold standard of database reliability—and explains how ACID act as the ultimate fail-safe for your engineering stack. Open →
#system-design #software-architecture #domain-driven-design #engineering-excellence Re-use or Re-invent: It’s Fuzzier Than You Think Re-use or Re-invent: It’s Fuzzier Than You Think April 11, 2026 · 4 min read A foundational mental model for deciding when to reuse existing architectures versus reinventing them — guiding objective engineering decisions. Open →