Interview Questions/System Design/Design a Cloud File Storage Service (Dropbox-like)
AdvancedSystem-Design
45 min

Design a Cloud File Storage Service (Dropbox-like)

StorageSecuritySyncCDN
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Interview Question

Design a secure cloud file storage and sync service with versioning, sharing, offline sync, and deduplication.

Key Points to Cover
  • Data model: files, blocks/chunks, metadata; content-addressed storage
  • Sync: delta sync, conflict resolution, resumable uploads
  • Dedup/compression, encryption (client/server-side), keys/KMS
  • Serving: CDN for downloads, edge acceleration, bandwidth controls
  • Sharing/ACLs, audit, ransomware detection/version rollback
Evaluation Rubric
Solid chunked storage and metadata25% weight
Reliable sync and conflict handling25% weight
Encryption/ACLs/audit design25% weight
CDN/edge performance choices25% weight
Hints
  • 💡Consider Merkle trees for integrity and sync.
Potential Follow-up Questions
  • How do you detect ransomware activity?
  • How do you handle large files?
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