Engineering, explained from the inside

See how everyday software really works.

Visual deep dives into the architecture, trade-offs, and decisions that make it work.

How Google Drive Syncs Files and Resolves Concurrent Edits

Trace the mechanisms behind reliable file sync: incremental uploads, version checks, and conflict copies that preserve both edits.

This article answers

How does Drive avoid uploading an entire file for a small change?
Who decides which version becomes the source of truth?
How can an offline device safely catch up later?

Distributed SystemsFile StorageSyncConflict ResolutionReliability

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System Architecture

Design a Durable Distributed Message Broker

See how a message broker decouples services by persisting events, letting consumers work and replay history independently, and recovering safely after failures.

This article answers

What happens after the broker says "accepted"?
How does a stream stay ordered at scale?
How does processing recover after a consumer crash?
How can teams replay the same history independently?

Distributed SystemsMessage BrokersEvent StreamingReplicationReliability

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The person behind the vault

Hi, I’m Subham.

I’m a backend engineer with an interest in distributed systems. This is where I connect ideas from books, papers, and practice to explore how reliable, scalable systems are designed.