System Design · cloudaqube · intermediate
Grokking Advanced System Design & Microservices
The definitive system design interview course. Learn the RESHADED framework used by FAANG engineers, then apply it to real-world case studies: Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube, Uber, and Google Maps. Covers AI/ML infrastructure including LLM serving (ChatGPT architecture), vector databases, and recommendation engines. Vetted against "Designing Data-Intensive Applications" by Kleppmann and Alex Xu's "System Design Interview" series.
- 37 hours
- 34 lessons
- 8 modules
- updated May 2026
Try it before you sign up
Read a full lesson and answer 1 questions from the Module 1 quiz. No account needed.
The 4-Step Interview Framework
8 modules, 34 lessons
Module 1 is free — lessons, hands-on walkthrough and quiz.
- readThe 4-Step Interview Framework45 min
- videoVideo: Horizontal vs Vertical Scaling30 min
- quizQuiz: Core Fundamentals15 min
Built by the CloudaQube team
No celebrity instructor — here is exactly what goes into the course instead.
- 01 3 guided hands-on walkthroughs you run in a real environment.
- 02 4 module quizzes — every answer comes with an explanation.
- 03 Last updated May 2026.
- 04 Any module can become a hands-on lab in Labs Studio.
What you'll be able to do
- 01 Master the RESHADED framework for tackling any open-ended system design question in 45 minutes
- 02 Deep dive into Load Balancing strategies, Caching patterns (Cache-Aside, write-through), and CDN architectures
- 03 Conquer Database scaling: Replication strategies, Sharding fundamentals, and Consistent Hashing
- 04 Design real-world systems: YouTube, WhatsApp, Twitter, Uber, and Google Maps at scale
- 05 Understand CAP Theorem, PACELC, and the trade-offs of Eventual Consistency
- 06 Design modern AI/ML infrastructure including LLM serving pipelines and vector databases
- — Basic understanding of web architecture (Client-Server model)
- — Familiarity with at least one backend language
- — Basic knowledge of databases (SQL/NoSQL)
Before you start
How long does it take?
About 37 hours of lessons, videos and hands-on walkthroughs across 8 modules.
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 8 modules, and starts with a 14-day free trial.
Start the course with Module 1 free.
No card required. Unlock every module from $8.99/mo when you’re ready.