Structured plan to learn Distributed Systems
The ONLY plan you need to master distributed systems
Hey there 👋 - Amrut here!
Happy Sunday to all working hard towards meta-skills mastery!
I have been working with distributed systems for 3+ years now.
Over this time, I have worked with software engineers (junior and senior) who claim they understand distributed systems but fail to explain concepts in simple terms when asked a specific question.
I get it.
Understanding Distributed Systems can be quite a task, given the breadth and depth of the subject.
I am no master, either.
If you have been a long-term subscriber of Meta Skills Mastery, you know we focus on fundamentals first.
So, in this newsletter, I will cover
what concepts to focus on
structured plan to learn each concept
helpful books that explain each concept well (Remember, I am a big fan of reading high-quality books 😉 )
Let’s dive deeper.
Basics of Distributed Systems
Concepts: Understand the need for distributed systems and their advantages over single-system software.
Delve into the complexities and challenges involved in designing and managing them.
Become familiar with terminologies such as nodes, clusters, and data sharding.
Plan: Spend about 1-2 weeks understanding distributed systems' core principles and challenges.
I began my journey by reading 'Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design' by George Coulouris.
Networking and Communication
Concepts: Delve into the nitty-gritty of how different nodes in a distributed system communicate.
Understand the networking basics, different protocols (TCP/IP, HTTP, etc.), and architectures such as REST and RPC.
Learn about network failures and how to handle them.
Plan: Spend 2-3 weeks studying computer networks.
I still use 'Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach' by James F. Kurose and Keith W. Ross to return to these concepts when needed.
Time and Global States
Concepts: Distributed systems face unique challenges in maintaining a synchronized clock and managing global states.
Understand the concepts of logical clocks, vector clocks, and the challenges in managing global states across various nodes.
Plan: Spend 1 week focusing on this area.
Start by understanding why clock synchronization is needed and the strategies to achieve it.
Read relevant chapters from 'Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms' by Andrew S. Tanenbaum.
Consistency and Replication
Concepts: Learn the importance of data replication in distributed systems.
Understand different consistency models, such as eventual and strong consistency, and explore consensus algorithms like Paxos and Raft that help achieve consistency.
Plan: Allocate 2-3 weeks to explore these concepts.
Start with the basic concept of data replication and why it's needed, then move on to consistency models and consensus algorithms.
Use resources like the Raft paper and 'Designing Data-Intensive Applications' by Martin Kleppmann.
Fault Tolerance and Recovery
Concepts: Understand how distributed systems ensure reliability through fault tolerance and recovery techniques.
Learn about redundancy, failover, and replication as strategies for fault tolerance.
Understand the concepts of check pointing and log replay for recovery.
Plan: Spend around 1 week on this.
Start with understanding the types of failures and then explore the techniques used to recover from them.
'Fault Tolerance in Distributed Systems' by Pankaj Jalote is a great resource.
Distributed Databases and Data Processing
Concepts: Get a solid grasp of how databases work in a distributed environment.
Understand the CAP theorem and its implications on the design of distributed databases.
Familiarize yourself with distributed data processing paradigms such as MapReduce, and distributed processing frameworks like Hadoop and Spark.
Plan: Dedicate around 2-3 weeks for this section.
Begin with the CAP theorem and then move on to distributed databases and processing frameworks.
'Big Data: Principles and Best Practices of Scalable Realtime Data Systems' by Nathan Marz and James Warren is a good place to begin.
Security in Distributed Systems
Concepts: Dive into the security aspects of distributed systems.
Learn about the different types of threats and measures taken to counter them, such as encryption, secure communication channels, and secure access controls.
Plan: Allocate around 1-2 weeks for this topic.
First, understand the common threats and then delve into the different security measures.
Start with the security chapters in 'Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design' by George Coulouris.
Case Studies
Concepts: Apply what you've learned to real-world systems.
Review case studies of widely-used distributed systems such as Google's Bigtable, Amazon's DynamoDB, and Microsoft's Azure.
Plan: Dedicate around 2 weeks for this part.
Reading research papers and official documentation can be particularly enlightening at this stage.
Remember, the key to mastering distributed systems is a balance of theoretical understanding and hands-on experience.
Be sure to supplement your learning with practical projects to understand how these concepts are applied in the real world.
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