Design File Storage Infrastructure for IoT devices

Last updated: September 18, 2025

Quick Overview

Design a geo-distributed file storage system that handles millions of requests. Discuss trade-offs in consistency, availability, and performance.

Notion
Software Engineering Fundamentals
Software Engineer
Notion
September 18, 2025
Software Engineer
Onsite
Software Engineering Fundamentals
Easy

46

11

1,289 solved


Design a geo-distributed file storage system that handles millions of requests. Discuss trade-offs in consistency, availability, and performance.

Software engineering fundamentals questions at Notion test your understanding of core CS concepts and their practical application. This Onsite question evaluates how you apply engineering principles to build maintainable, scalable software.

What the Interviewer Expects
  • Explain the concept clearly with a practical example
  • Discuss when and why to apply this principle
  • Identify common mistakes and anti-patterns
  • Compare with alternative approaches
Key Topics to Cover
Testing strategies (unit, integration, e2e)
Design patterns (Factory, Observer, Strategy, etc.)
API design and RESTful conventions
Version control and branching strategies
How to Approach This
  1. Apply SOLID principles. Single Responsibility makes code testable, Open/Closed makes it extensible.
  2. Choose data structures based on access patterns, not familiarity.
  3. Prefer immutable data and message passing over shared mutable state for concurrency.
  4. Design APIs with RESTful conventions, versioning, meaningful errors, and pagination from day one.
Possible Follow-up Questions
  • How would you document this for other engineers?
  • How would this design change if the team size doubled?
  • How would you handle backward compatibility?
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Sample Answer
Core Principles

Start by identifying which engineering principles are most relevant: **SOLID Principles**: Single Responsibility (one reason to change), Open/Closed ...

Design Approach

**API Design**: Define clear interfaces before implementation. Use RESTful conventions for HTTP APIs. Version your APIs from the start. Return meaning...


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