System Design Interview Preparation Tips

Cisco / Eng
RainDrops

Go to company page Cisco Eng

PRE
Microsoft, Moz, Cisco
BIO
SDE 3 at Cisco Systems
RainDrops
Mar 18, 2018 6 Comments

Hello,
I am just starting to prepare for SDE interviews, primarily targeting FANG, Microsoft , Uber, Lyft, Dropbox etc.

Regarding system design interview what is the general expectations in terms of depth. Like if we take the question “Design YouTube” , the scope of the question is huge.

So how deep shall we go into it. Like I could start to client side, followed by load balancers, web server , application tier and dB model , caching later, security etc

Is it expected to go deep in each of these layers. Also do they expect functionality design ( class , interfaces, controller layer etc )

Also using Gainlo and leetcode for preparation.

Any suggestions will be helpful.

Thanks.!!!

comments

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TOP 6 Comments
  • HPE
    WCmF21

    Go to company page HPE

    WCmF21
    Search GitHub for system design interview. Look at hiredintech. You need to follow a structure... also look at educative.io for Grokking the system design interview.

    Regarding depth, all depends on the person interviewing you. My interview at FAANG the guy didn't know what haproxy was, r u kidding? Anyways, be prepared for people who can't answer the question they just asked you.

    Ok, to stay positive... Follow the structure recommended by the resources I mentioned above. You will need to show you mojo with schema design, draw a preliminary sys design, then the services, data stores.

    most times the last 10 mins are important. If the interviewer is good, they will question you on the bottlenecks they think exists. If you can defend your choices you are golden. Of course, if you get an idiot make sure you they leave the room with the structure you put up, the picture you drew and general confidence in answering the questions.
    Mar 18, 2018 1
  • Uber
    Oiutrvjkou

    Go to company page Uber

    Oiutrvjkou
    Gainlo is expensive. Try PracticeCodingInterview.com. Similar format but better rate.
    Jul 6, 2018 0
  • Uber
    dBag

    Go to company page Uber

    dBag
    Have you ever worked with any of the technology you need for solution? If not propose you self down level to avoid too much design.
    Mar 18, 2018 0
  • Cisco / Eng
    RainDrops

    Go to company page Cisco Eng

    PRE
    Microsoft, Moz, Cisco
    BIO
    SDE 3 at Cisco Systems
    RainDrops
    OP
    I have 4.5-5 years of experience.Out of this 2 years I was in Network OS Team. The remaining 3 years in REST based Cloud Product Backed Team
    Mar 18, 2018 0
  • Google
    LtcodeKid

    Go to company page Google

    LtcodeKid
    How many years of experience do you have?
    Mar 18, 2018 0