Design a global low-latency database
WHAT IT TESTS: multi-region database tradeoffs. OUTLINE: a distributed store with replicas near users, a tuned consistency level, accepting lag, conflicts, and cross-region cost. RED FLAG: promising low latency, strong consistency, and low cost together.
WHAT IT TESTS: architecting across regions while naming the unavoidable tradeoffs. ANSWER OUTLINE: propose a globally distributed database like Cosmos DB or Spanner with replicas in each region so reads and writes hit a nearby endpoint. Pick a consistency level deliberately, such as session or bounded staleness, accepting replication lag and write conflicts that need a resolution policy. Acknowledge higher cost from multi-region capacity and egress. RED FLAG: claiming low latency everywhere, strong global consistency, and low cost at once.
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- #multi-region
- #cosmos-db
- #spanner
- #consistency
- #system-design
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