System Design · generic · advanced
Distributed Systems: Design & Implementation
A graduate-level distributed systems course modelled after MIT 6.5840 (Robert Morris), CMU 15-440, and Berkeley CS262. Build a deep understanding of the core abstractions that underpin every modern cloud system — consensus, replication, consistency, transactions, and storage. Includes implementations of Raft, consistent hashing, and a toy key-value store. MIT course materials regularly go viral on Hacker News; this course distils the best of those lectures.
- 14 hours
- 33 lessons
- 7 modules
- 50-question practice exam
- updated June 2026
Try it before you sign up
Read a full lesson and answer 3 questions from the Module 1 quiz. No account needed.
Why Distributed Systems and Their Core Challenges
7 modules, 33 lessons
Module 1 is free — lessons, hands-on walkthrough and quiz. The course ends with a 50-question practice exam.
- readWhy Distributed Systems and Their Core Challenges35 min
- videoDistributed Systems Lecture – MIT 6.584030 min
- readImplementing Lamport and Vector Clocks in Python25 min
- quizDistributed Systems Fundamentals Quiz15 min
Built by the CloudaQube team
No celebrity instructor — here is exactly what goes into the course instead.
- 01 1 guided hands-on walkthroughs you run in a real environment.
- 02 7 module quizzes and a 50-question practice exam — every answer comes with an explanation.
- 03 Last updated June 2026.
- 04 Any module can become a hands-on lab in Labs Studio.
What you'll be able to do
- 01 Explain the CAP theorem and PACELC and apply them to real database selection decisions
- 02 Implement Raft leader election and log replication from scratch
- 03 Describe quorum-based replication and anti-entropy in leaderless systems
- 04 Analyse consistency models: strong, causal, eventual, and linearisability
- 05 Design distributed transactions using 2PC, 3PC, and the SAGA pattern
- 06 Explain the internal architecture of Google Spanner, Apache Kafka, and DynamoDB
- — Solid understanding of operating systems (processes, threads, locks)
- — Experience with at least one systems programming language (Go, Java, C, Python)
- — Familiarity with basic networking (TCP/IP)
- — Data structures and algorithms at an intermediate level
Before you start
How long does it take?
About 14 hours of lessons, videos and hands-on walkthroughs across 7 modules, plus a 50-question practice exam.
What’s free?
Module 1 in full — lessons, hands-on walkthrough and quiz — with no card required. Any paid plan (from $8.99/mo) unlocks all 7 modules and the practice exam, and starts with a 14-day free trial.
Start the course with Module 1 free.
No card required. Unlock every module and the practice exam from $8.99/mo when you’re ready.