--- title: "System Design & Architecture: Scalability & Resilience" lang: "en" author: "Mohammad Abu Mattar" canonical: https://mkabumattar.com/post/system-design-architecture-quiz --- [Home](/)›[Quizzes](/quizzes)›[All Categories](/quizzes/categories)›[Architecture](/quizzes/categories/architecture) Quizzes [Prev in ArchitectureMulti-Cloud Strategy & Architecture](/quizzes/post/multicloud-strategy-quiz) [Architecture](/quizzes/categories/architecture)[Software Engineering](/quizzes/categories/software-engineering) # System Design & Architecture: Scalability & Resilience [Mohammad Abu Mattar](/authors/mohammad-abu-mattar)20 QuestionsAdvancedPublished: 24 Mar 2026 [Markdown for AI(opens in a new tab)](/post/system-design-architecture-quiz/index.md "Open the plain-Markdown version of this page, for pasting into an AI tool") Series [APIs & Advanced Architecture](/series/apis--advanced-architecture)4/4 [PreviousAdvanced API Architecture & Design Patterns](/quizzes/post/advanced-api-architecture-quiz) All posts in this series (4) Quizzes4 1. [GraphQL Fundamentals: Queries, Mutations & Schema Design](/quizzes/post/graphql-fundamentals-quiz) 2. [API Security & Authentication: Protecting Your APIs](/quizzes/post/api-security-authentication-quiz) 3. [Advanced API Architecture & Design Patterns](/quizzes/post/advanced-api-architecture-quiz) 4. [System Design & Architecture: Scalability & ResilienceYou are here](/quizzes/post/system-design-architecture-quiz) ## System Design & Architecture: Scalability & Resilience Up to 20 questions, shuffled on every run Quiz Configuration Enterto start Welcome to the System Design & Architecture quiz! Test your knowledge on scalability, reliability, performance, trade-offs, distributed systems patterns, and architectural decisions for production systems. Each question has a timer and hints to guide you. Good luck! Answer key and explanations20 questions The quiz above draws 20 questions at random from these 30, so a second attempt will not be the same run. Everything in the pool is listed here. 1. What is scalability in the context of system design? AnswerThe ability of a system to handle increased load by adding resources 2. What is latency? AnswerThe total time taken for a request to travel from client to server and back 3. What is throughput? AnswerThe volume of work or number of requests processed in a given period 4. What is availability? AnswerThe proportion of time a system remains functional and accessible 5. What is consistency in distributed systems? AnswerThe requirement that all nodes see the same data at the same time 6. What is partitioning (sharding)? AnswerDividing a large dataset into smaller chunks across multiple nodes 7. What is a single point of failure (SPOF)? AnswerAny component whose failure causes the entire system to stop functioning 8. What is eventual consistency? AnswerA model where data will be consistent across all nodes given enough time 9. What is CQRS (Command Query Responsibility Segregation)? AnswerAn architectural pattern that uses different models for reading and writing data 10. What is event sourcing? AnswerA pattern that stores the state of a system as a sequence of immutable events 11. What is rate limiting? AnswerThe practice of controlling the rate of requests sent or received by a network 12. What is bulkhead isolation? AnswerA pattern that partitions resources to prevent a failure in one from affecting others 13. What is the circuit breaker pattern? AnswerA mechanism to stop requests to a failing service to allow it to recover 14. What is the CAP theorem? AnswerThe principle that a distributed system can only provide two of three specific guarantees 15. What is the BASE model? AnswerA model focusing on availability and eventual consistency over strict ACID rules 16. What is database sharding? AnswerThe horizontal partitioning of data across multiple independent database instances 17. What is database denormalization? AnswerAdding redundant data to a schema to improve read performance by avoiding joins 18. What is the Cache-Aside strategy? AnswerA pattern where the application code is responsible for managing the cache state 19. What are Bloom Filters? AnswerA space-efficient probabilistic data structure used to test if an element is in a set 20. What is consistent hashing? AnswerA hashing technique that minimizes key remapping when the number of slots changes 21. What is the Saga pattern? AnswerA sequence of local transactions where each updates data and triggers the next 22. What is the difference between Token Bucket and Leaky Bucket? AnswerToken Bucket allows for bursts of traffic, while Leaky Bucket enforces a steady rate 23. What is Hexagonal Architecture? AnswerA pattern that isolates core logic from external concerns using ports and adapters 24. What are Bounded Contexts in DDD? AnswerExplicit boundaries within which a specific domain model is defined and applicable 25. What are the three pillars of Observability? AnswerLogs, Metrics, and Traces 26. When is a Time-Series Database (TSDB) most appropriate? AnswerFor handling massive volumes of timestamped data like metrics or sensor readings 27. What is Semantic Versioning (SemVer)? AnswerA versioning scheme using MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH to signal the nature of changes 28. What is an idempotency key? AnswerA unique value sent by a client to ensure a request is only processed once 29. Why is Average Latency often a misleading metric? AnswerIt hides outliers (tail latency) that significantly affect user experience 30. What is Distributed Consensus (e.g., Raft)? 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