This is one of those questions where you nod confidently and then immediately realize you have no idea where to start.
Start by clarifying the scope: Amazon's storage system is vast, so focus on a specific service like S3 or EBS, and state your assumptions. Then, walk through requirements, high-level design, and deep dive into critical components, emphasizing trade-offs and scalability.
Pro tip: Demonstrate maturity by acknowledging that Amazon's storage is not a single system but a suite of services (S3, EBS, EFS, Glacier) optimized for different use cases; propose a design that aligns with one of these based on the interviewer's cues.
Ask questions to understand the specific storage system (e.g., object, block, file), scale, consistency, durability, and latency requirements. Define functional and non-functional requirements.
Outline the core components: metadata service, data storage nodes, API layer, and how they interact. Sketch a simple architecture diagram and explain data flow.
Choose 1-2 critical areas (e.g., data partitioning, replication, consistency model) and detail their design, including algorithms and data structures.
Explain how the system scales horizontally, handles failures, and ensures durability (e.g., replication, erasure coding, multi-AZ).
Highlight trade-offs made (e.g., consistency vs. availability, cost vs. performance) and potential optimizations for specific use cases.
AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.