Databases

How LSM-Trees Work: Memtables, SSTables, and Compaction

A B-tree updates a leaf in place. That is the right shape when most work is point lookups on a working set that already lives on disk. It is...

Sarthak Bystander 14 Sept, 2026

How Write-Ahead Logging Works: Durability Before Data Pages Hit Disk

A committed row that vanishes after a power cut is a broken contract. The database promised durability. RAM is fast and volatile. Disk pages...

Sarthak Bystander 13 Sept, 2026

How Bloom Filters Work: Hash Bits, False Positives, and Why Deletion Is Hard

A cache, a database, and a CDN edge often need the same cheap answer: have I seen this key before? Storing every key is correct and expensi...

Sarthak Bystander 12 Sept, 2026

How Raft Works: Leader Election, Replicated Logs, and Majority Quorums

A replicated database, a Kubernetes control plane, and a coordination service all need the same guarantee: after a machine dies, the survivo...

Sarthak Bystander 10 Sept, 2026

How Consistent Hashing Works: Rings, Virtual Nodes, and Why Keys Move

A cache cluster, a sharded database, and a content-delivery edge all share one problem: given a key, which machine should own it? The naive...

Sarthak Bystander 8 Sept, 2026