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Design an IP blacklist API
Trie/Radix TreeDistributed Caching and Cache InvalidationAPI Design PrinciplesEventual Consistency and Distributed SysteNetwork Protocols and IP Addressing
Problem Statement
Design an API and a backend service for an IP firewall blacklist system.
The service must support the following operations:
- Management: Allow security administrators or automated abuse-detection systems to add, remove, update, and query blacklisted IP addresses and IP ranges.
- Decision: Enable firewall gateways and application services to call the API at high throughput to determine if an incoming request should be blocked. This decision process must be very low latency.
Key Design Considerations
Candidates should specifically focus on:
- API Design: What specific API endpoints would be exposed for both management and decision-making?
- Data Storage: How would exact IP addresses and CIDR ranges be stored efficiently?
- Read Path Optimization: How would the read path be designed to ensure blacklist checks are performed with very low latency?
- Cache Design: How would cache invalidation and propagation work when the blacklist changes?
- System Attributes: How would the design address scale, consistency, failures, and observability?
AI interview prep
Core dilemma
Balancing extreme read performance (very low latency, high throughput) for blacklist checks with the need for eventual consistency and efficient propagation of blacklist updates across a potentially distributed system.
Mid-level signals3
Senior signals3
Red flags3
3 tradeoffs and 3 stress tests locked
Interview prep
Unlock the interviewer X-Ray rubric, tradeoff matrix, stress tests, clarifying questions, and key concepts.
Design an IP blacklist API
Trie/Radix TreeDistributed Caching and Cache InvalidationAPI Design PrinciplesEventual Consistency and Distributed SysteNetwork Protocols and IP Addressing
Problem Statement
Design an API and a backend service for an IP firewall blacklist system.
The service must support the following operations:
- Management: Allow security administrators or automated abuse-detection systems to add, remove, update, and query blacklisted IP addresses and IP ranges.
- Decision: Enable firewall gateways and application services to call the API at high throughput to determine if an incoming request should be blocked. This decision process must be very low latency.
Key Design Considerations
Candidates should specifically focus on:
- API Design: What specific API endpoints would be exposed for both management and decision-making?
- Data Storage: How would exact IP addresses and CIDR ranges be stored efficiently?
- Read Path Optimization: How would the read path be designed to ensure blacklist checks are performed with very low latency?
- Cache Design: How would cache invalidation and propagation work when the blacklist changes?
- System Attributes: How would the design address scale, consistency, failures, and observability?