Practice: Design Metrics Monitoring System

Metrics monitoring system inspired by Prometheus and Facebook's Gorilla time-series database (VLDB 2015): buffered ingestion with cardinality limits, compressed time-series storage, cached dashboard queries, rule-based alerting, and downsampled cold storage. A teaching design.

Build this system yourself on the canvas below. Add components, connect them, and run traffic simulations to see where your design holds up and where it breaks.

Functional requirements

  • Ingest metric data points from mobile/web client apps and backend servers
  • Store time-series metrics with tags (service, host, region, env)
  • Query metrics by time range, tag filters, and aggregation functions (avg, p99, sum)
  • Render dashboards showing metric graphs over configurable time windows
  • Evaluate alert rules on live metrics — trigger notification when threshold crossed
  • Send alert notifications via email, Slack, PagerDuty
  • Aggregate raw metrics into rollups (1-min, 5-min, 1-hour) for efficient long-range queries
  • Archive older metrics to cold storage; query cold + hot data transparently

Non-functional requirements

  • Ingest 1M data points per second sustained
  • Dashboard query response < 200ms p99 for last 1-hour window
  • Alert evaluation latency < 30s from metric ingestion to notification
  • Metrics available for query within 5s of ingestion
  • Hot storage retains 30 days of raw data; cold storage retains 2 years of rollups
  • 99.9% uptime for alert evaluation — missed alerts are safety-critical
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Round 1 of 4 · Architecture Design · 60:00 remaining
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Components

User
CDN
Load Balancer
Server
Cache
Database
Blob Storage
Search Index
Queue
Worker
Rate Limiter
Service
API Gateway
Reverse Proxy
WebSocket Server
Third-party API

Inspector

Notes
Use clear names so your design intent is easy to understand.
Good
Name by business meaning
"Order API", "Restaurant Service"
Avoid
Generic names = zero signal
"Server 1", "API", "Queue"
A short description for each component makes feedback much better.
100%
Start by identifying:
  • Users & entry points
  • APIs & services
  • Databases & storage
  • Traffic flow & scale

Round 1 of 4 Architecture Design

Run a simulation to see results.

Time Remaining
60:00
System Design Interview

What are the core functional requirements?
What are the key non-functional constraints?

Questions

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Design Decisions

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EVALUATE MODE

Test yourself like it's the real thing.

A structured 4-module evaluation that mirrors how top companies assess system design candidates.

Architecture Design
Draw your system on the canvas. Define components, connections, and data flow.
FR & NFR Requirements
Answer functional and non-functional requirement questions about your design.
MCQ Round
Multiple choice questions testing your depth on the chosen system.
Tradeoff Analysis
Justify your design decisions and defend your architectural tradeoffs.
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Round 2 of 4
MCQ Round
Answer multiple-choice questions based on your design.

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My Evaluations

Your past evaluation sessions

Here’s a simple request flow that follows the expected layer order.

External User
→
Edge CDN → API Gateway → Load Balancer
→
Compute App Servers / Services
→
DataAccess Cache
→
Storage Database / Search Index
→
Async Queue → Worker

Tip: keep arrows moving forward through layers (Edge → Compute → Storage). Avoid sending storage back to compute.

Evaluation Instructions

Read the rules carefully before starting. The test auto-submits on refresh.

Before you start

  • Build your architecture on the canvas. The timer starts when you click Start Evaluation.
  • Don't forget to answer Functional Requirement and Non Functional Requirements.
  • When satisfied with your design, click Next to lock it and view the questions.
  • Please answer final step questions to complete the evaluation.

Dos

  • Do read each question carefully before answering.
  • Do include required components to maximize component coverage.
  • Do save a copy of your design if you want to keep it before submission.

Don'ts

  • Don't refresh or close the tab during an active evaluation — this will auto-submit your answers.
  • Don't switch app modes or open another tab while the evaluation is running.
  • Don't attempt to edit the design after clicking Next; the workspace will be locked.

All the best!!

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