Design a File Storage & Sync Service (Dropbox / Google Drive)
Sync files across devices: Chunking (4MB blocks), Content-addressed storage (SHA-256 hash), Delta sync (rsync algorithm), metadata synchronization, and conflict resolution.
01.Functional & Non-Functional Requirements
A Cloud File Storage and Synchronization Service allows users to store files, sync updates automatically across multiple desktop and mobile devices, share documents, and roll back revision histories.
Functional Requirements
- File Upload & Download: Support files up to
50 GB(documents, videos, archives). - Multi-Device Automatic Synchronization: File edits made on Device A must sync seamlessly to Device B within seconds.
- Delta Sync (Bandwidth Optimization): When a user edits a small part of a large file, upload and download only the modified portions, not the entire file.
- File Versioning & History: Support restoring files to previous versions (30-day retention).
- Conflict Resolution: Handle simultaneous concurrent edits by multiple devices gracefully.
Non-Functional Requirements
- Massive Storage Scale: Support
500 million usersstoring exabytes of data. - Extreme Durability:
99.999999999\%(11 nines) file durability. Data once written must never be corrupted or lost. - Low Sync Latency: Propagate file changes across devices in
< 5 seconds.
Dropbox File Chunking, Content-Addressing & Delta Sync Architecture 📦
Dropbox File Chunking, Content-Addressing & Delta Sync Architecture 📦
Splitting files into 4MB hashed chunks, global S3 deduplication, metadata versioning, and real-time delta sync notifications across multi-device clients.
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