The interviewer asked me to design a rate limiter. I started by outlining the main requirements, such as requests per second and handling burst traffic.

We then discussed potential algorithms like leaky bucket and token bucket. I emphasized the need for an efficient storage mechanism, possibly using Redis for distributed limiting.

The interviewer engaged positively, nodding while I explained, but pressed me on failure scenarios. I felt confident but noticed I struggled with edge cases for handling sudden spikes in traffic.

Ultimately, we concluded with discussing possible trade-offs, which I think was a bit rushed. I was pleased with my general structure but frustrated by my inability to flesh out every detail smoothly.