Classic video storage question but I still fumbled the sequencing a bit.
Start by clarifying requirements (scale, features, constraints) and then walk through a high-level design covering upload, storage, processing, and delivery. Dive into key components like CDN, transcoding, and metadata storage, discussing trade-offs and scalability.
Pro tip: Emphasize cost-efficiency and trade-offs, especially since AppLovin deals with massive scale and performance. Mention how you'd handle hot vs. cold storage and optimize for mobile networks.
Ask about scale (daily uploads, views), features (resolution, transcoding, recommendations), and constraints (latency, cost).
Outline main components: upload service, storage (blob + metadata), transcoding pipeline, CDN, and playback service.
Discuss storage choices (object storage like S3, CDN for delivery), transcoding (parallel, adaptive bitrate), and metadata (sharding, replication).
Explain how to scale each component (e.g., CDN edge caching, database sharding) and ensure fault tolerance (replication, retries).
Compare options (e.g., pre-transcode vs. on-the-fly, storage tiers) and suggest optimizations for cost and performance.
AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.