URL Shortener Architecture
System Overview
A high-performance distributed system for shortening URLs with minimal latency.
Core Components
- API Server: RESTful endpoints for URL shortening
- Database: Storage for mappings
- Cache Layer: Redis for frequently accessed URLs
- Hash Generator: Collision-free hash generation
Design Decisions
- Hashing Algorithm: Base62 encoding for short URLs
- Distributed Architecture: Horizontal scaling
- Replication: Data redundancy and availability
Features
- URL expiration
- Custom short codes
- Analytics and statistics
- Redirect tracking
Scalability Considerations
- Sharding strategy
- Load balancing
- Database optimization
Security
- Malicious URL detection
- Rate limiting
- DDoS protection