SeniorSenior (6–10 yrs)RedisKafkaSystem DesignStripeAmazonCloudflareGoogle
Rate Limiter
Design a distributed rate limiter for an API gateway.
Answers use simple, clear English.
Quick interview answer
Algorithms: token bucket, leaky bucket, fixed/sliding window, sliding window log. For distributed: Redis INCR+EXPIRE, Redis Lua for atomic token bucket, or Envoy rate limit service. Key by user/IP/API key.
Detailed answer
Algorithms: token bucket, leaky bucket, fixed/sliding window, sliding window log. For distributed: Redis INCR+EXPIRE, Redis Lua for atomic token bucket, or Envoy rate limit service. Key by user/IP/API key. Return 429 with Retry-After. Decide local vs global limits and burst behavior.
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