File System Design

System DesignDatabricksLast reported April 2026Medium Frequency
Reported
8× across candidate reports
First seen
March 2025
Last reported
April 2026
Reported outcome
mixed

Problem Overview

Design a distributed file system (similar to GCS, NOT S3/Cassandra-style last-writer-wins). The system must support the following operations with strong consistency guarantees: - create directory - list directory (ls) - put file (upload) - get file (download) - delete directory (recursive) Key constraints: 1. Strong consistency is required: listing operations…

  • 5 candidate-reported follow-ups — the exact probes interviewers asked, with the trigger for each
  • The rest of the problem statement — full requirements, constraints, and edge cases
  • Approach and trade-offs — what passing candidates did, and the mistakes that sink people
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Verified Source
Every question is reconstructed from multiple independent candidate reports. Verbatim follow-ups, not invented ones.
Codex Fact-Checked
Technical claims, formulas, and scale numbers are reviewed against primary sources.
Interviewer Follow-ups
The exact follow-ups reported by candidates, with the trigger that prompts each one — plus the mistakes that sink people.
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