Skip to main content
Back to Curriculum/Distributed Primitives
First-Principles Distributed Architecture

Distributed Systems Primitives

Deep dives into fundamental distributed primitives, algorithmic invariants, data structures, and failure playbooks. Understand how modern cloud architectures function from first principles.

30

Core Primitives

Zero Guessing

Rigorous Invariants

Failure Modes

Disaster Recovery

AWS Mapping

Managed Services

All Distributed Primitives (30)

PRIMITIVE #01Ingress, Routing & Network Protocols

Consistent Hashing

First-principles deep dive into Consistent Hashing, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBS3ElastiCache
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #02Ingress, Routing & Network Protocols

Distributed Rate Limiting

First-principles deep dive into Distributed Rate Limiting, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

ElastiCacheSQSAPI Gateway
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #03Storage Engines & Data Partitioning

Bloom Filters & Counting Filters

First-principles deep dive into Bloom Filters & Counting Filters, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBAuroraElastiCache
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #04Storage Engines & Data Partitioning

Distributed Caching Patterns & Eviction

First-principles deep dive into Distributed Caching Patterns & Eviction, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBS3ElastiCache
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #05Asynchronous Messaging & Event Systems

Message Queues vs. Event Streams

First-principles deep dive into Message Queues vs. Event Streams, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBS3SQS
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #06Distributed Coordination, Locks & Consensus

Distributed Locks & Leases

First-principles deep dive into Distributed Locks & Leases, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBS3Aurora
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #07Storage Engines & Data Partitioning

Write-Ahead Log (WAL) & LSM-Trees

First-principles deep dive into Write-Ahead Log (WAL) & LSM-Trees, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBS3Aurora
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #08Storage Engines & Data Partitioning

Database Sharding & Partition Keys

First-principles deep dive into Database Sharding & Partition Keys, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBS3Aurora
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #09Distributed Coordination, Locks & Consensus

Distributed Consensus (Raft & Paxos)

First-principles deep dive into Distributed Consensus (Raft & Paxos), algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBS3Aurora
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #10Distributed Coordination, Locks & Consensus

Two-Phase Commit (2PC) & Saga Orchestration

First-principles deep dive into Two-Phase Commit (2PC) & Saga Orchestration, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBS3Aurora
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #11Specialized Search & Spatial Indexing

Geospatial Indexing (Geohash, Quadtree, S2 & H3)

First-principles deep dive into Geospatial Indexing (Geohash, Quadtree, S2 & H3), algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBAuroraElastiCache
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #12Asynchronous Messaging & Event Systems

Change Data Capture (CDC) & Outbox Pattern

First-principles deep dive into Change Data Capture (CDC) & Outbox Pattern, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBAuroraElastiCache
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #13Specialized Search & Spatial Indexing

Trie & Inverted Index

First-principles deep dive into Trie & Inverted Index, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

OpenSearch
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #14Ingress, Routing & Network Protocols

API Gateway & Reverse Proxy

First-principles deep dive into API Gateway & Reverse Proxy, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

API GatewayCloudFrontRoute 53
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #15Distributed Coordination, Locks & Consensus

Distributed Unique ID Generators

First-principles deep dive into Distributed Unique ID Generators, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBKinesisECS
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #16Distributed Coordination, Locks & Consensus

Gossip Protocol & Failure Detection

First-principles deep dive into Gossip Protocol & Failure Detection, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBECS
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #17Specialized Search & Spatial Indexing

Vector Databases & Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN)

First-principles deep dive into Vector Databases & Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN), algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

AuroraOpenSearch
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #18Ingress, Routing & Network Protocols

WebSocket, Server-Sent Events (SSE) & Long Polling

First-principles deep dive into WebSocket, Server-Sent Events (SSE) & Long Polling, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBElastiCacheAPI Gateway
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #19Ingress, Routing & Network Protocols

API Protocols — HTTP/1.1 vs. HTTP/2 vs. HTTP/3 (QUIC) vs. gRPC

First-principles deep dive into API Protocols — HTTP/1.1 vs. HTTP/2 vs. HTTP/3 (QUIC) vs. gRPC, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

CloudFrontWAF
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #20Resilience, Security & Multi-Region HA

OAuth 2.0, OIDC & Distributed Token Authentication

First-principles deep dive into OAuth 2.0, OIDC & Distributed Token Authentication, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

ElastiCacheSQSAPI Gateway
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #21Storage Engines & Data Partitioning

Database Isolation Levels, ACID & Concurrency Anomalies

First-principles deep dive into Database Isolation Levels, ACID & Concurrency Anomalies, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBAurora
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #22Resilience, Security & Multi-Region HA

Circuit Breaker, Bulkhead & Fault Tolerance Patterns

First-principles deep dive into Circuit Breaker, Bulkhead & Fault Tolerance Patterns, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

AuroraElastiCacheAPI Gateway
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #23Asynchronous Messaging & Event Systems

Event Sourcing & CQRS Architecture

First-principles deep dive into Event Sourcing & CQRS Architecture, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBS3ElastiCache
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #24Resilience, Security & Multi-Region HA

Cloud Disaster Recovery & Multi-Region Active-Active

First-principles deep dive into Cloud Disaster Recovery & Multi-Region Active-Active, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBS3Aurora
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #25Bot Defense, Sybil Resistance & Anti-Abuse

Bot Defense, Sybil Resistance & Registration Abuse Mitigation

First-principles deep dive into Bot Defense, Sybil Resistance & Registration Abuse Mitigation, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBElastiCacheSQS
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #26Bot Defense, Sybil Resistance & Anti-Abuse

Honeypot Fields & Canary Traps

First-principles deep dive into Honeypot Fields & Canary Traps, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBS3Kinesis
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #27Bot Defense, Sybil Resistance & Anti-Abuse

Disposable Email & Domain Blocklists

First-principles deep dive into Disposable Email & Domain Blocklists, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

DynamoDBS3ElastiCache
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #28Bot Defense, Sybil Resistance & Anti-Abuse

Cloudflare Turnstile & Managed Challenges

First-principles deep dive into Cloudflare Turnstile & Managed Challenges, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

ElastiCacheECS
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #29Bot Defense, Sybil Resistance & Anti-Abuse

Google reCAPTCHA v2 & Enterprise Risk Analysis

First-principles deep dive into Google reCAPTCHA v2 & Enterprise Risk Analysis, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

ElastiCacheAPI GatewayCloudFront
Read Deep Dive
PRIMITIVE #30Bot Defense, Sybil Resistance & Anti-Abuse

Hashcash & Client-Side Proof of Work

First-principles deep dive into Hashcash & Client-Side Proof of Work, algorithmic mechanics, failure modes, and AWS production patterns.

ElastiCacheCloudFrontECS
Read Deep Dive