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How Linux CFS Works: vruntime, Red-Black Trees, and Why Fairness Is Approximate

A CPU core runs one thread at a time. Everything else that looks concurrent is a lie the operating system maintains by switching. The policy...

Sarthak Bystander 22 Sept, 2026

Latest Posts

How Linux CFS Works: vruntime, Red-Black Trees, and Why Fairness Is Approximate

A CPU core runs one thread at a time. Everything else that looks concurrent is a lie the operating system maintains by switching. The policy...

Sarthak Bystander 22 Sept, 2026

How eBPF Works: Verifier, Maps, JIT, and Why the Kernel Runs Your Code

A kernel module can do almost anything. That is why loading one is a privileged act and why a bug in one can take the machine with it. eBPF ...

Sarthak Bystander 21 Sept, 2026

How TLS 1.3 Works: Certificates, 1-RTT Handshakes, and Why 0-RTT Is Replayable

TCP can carry bytes in order. It cannot tell you who is on the other end, and it cannot stop a path observer from reading those bytes. HTTPS...

Sarthak Bystander 20 Sept, 2026

How io_uring Works: Submission Queues, Completion Queues, and Why Batching Beats Syscalls

A tight loop of read and write pays for a privilege crossing on every operation. After Spectre-era mitigations that crossing got more expe...

Sarthak Bystander 19 Sept, 2026

How CPU Caches Work: Lines, Associativity, and False Sharing

A load that misses DRAM can cost hundreds of cycles. A load that hits L1 often costs a handful. That gap is why two programs with the same b...

Sarthak Bystander 18 Sept, 2026

How mmap Works: File-Backed Pages, MAP_PRIVATE, and Why Zero-Copy Matters

How mmap Works: File-Backed Pages, MAP_PRIVATE, and Why Zero-Copy Matters A process that wants the contents of a 4 GB file does not have to...

Sarthak Bystander 17 Sept, 2026

How MVCC Works: Snapshots, Version Chains, and Why Readers Don't Block Writers

A long-running report wants a consistent view of every row it started reading. A checkout wants to update one of those rows at the same mome...

Sarthak Bystander 16 Sept, 2026

How Two-Phase Commit Works: Prepare, Decision, and Why Blocking Happens

A payment service writes a debit. An inventory service reserves a unit. Either both must become durable facts, or neither may. That is an at...

Sarthak Bystander 15 Sept, 2026