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2d ago
Why time breaks distributed systems
When ordering events, time seems like the most obvious thing to use. If something happened at 09:00 and another at 09:01, it is clear what the order is. Right? Wrong. In distributed systems, this intu
chidinma.dev12 min read
#time#distributed-systems#system-design#clock-synchronisation#event-ordering#ntp#monotonic-clock#causality
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Maker of Zlvox | Sharing thoughts on scalable backends, raw performance, and clean frontends.
Mind. Blown. My previous strategy for time in web apps was essentially: 'Slap a
CURRENT_TIMESTAMPon it and call it a day! What could possibly go wrong?' Turns out, an awful lot. My blissful ignorance about event ordering at scale has been shattered into a million tiny, out-of-order pieces. Seriously, thanks for making this brain-bending system design topic hilariously simple!