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Design a small subsystem that relies on Consumer Groups and Rebalance
Design a small subsystem that relies on Consumer Groups and Rebalance
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Audio N/AQuick interview answer
Sketch components, data flow, failure modes, and metrics around Consumer Groups and Rebalance. Example shape: 6 partitions, 3 consumers → each gets 2 partitions; add 4th consumer triggers rebalance.
Detailed answer
Mini design using Consumer Groups and Rebalance: • Components: API edge, worker/queue, store, and observability. • Data flow: request → Consumer Groups and Rebalance-related path → response/async side effects. • Failure modes: timeouts, overload, partial dependency loss. • Metrics: latency, errors, saturation for the Consumer Groups and Rebalance path. Guardrails: Idempotent consumers; static membership; cooperative sticky assignor. Parent context: Baseline: Each partition consumed by one consumer in group. Rebalance on member join/leave — can cause duplicate processing if offsets not committed carefully.
Full explanation
Interviewers want a crisp architecture story anchored on Consumer Groups and Rebalance, not a buzzword list. Each partition consumed by one consumer in group. Rebalance on member join/leave — can cause duplicate processing if offsets not committed carefully.
Follow-up questions
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Parent context — Consumer Groups and Rebalance
Baseline: Each partition consumed by one consumer in group. Rebalance on member join/leave — can cause duplicate processing if offsets not committed carefully.
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