System Design - Design TinyURL

System Design - Design TinyURL

Problem Statement

Design a URL shortening service similar to TinyURL.

Constraints

• The service should be able to handle a large number of requests.
• The shortened URLs should be unique and not guessable.
• The service should be able to resolve shortened URLs back to their original URLs.

Examples

1. Original URL: https://www.example.com/long/url

   • Shortened URL: http://tinyurl.com/abc123

2. Original URL: https://www.example.com/another/long/url

   • Shortened URL: http://tinyurl.com/def456

Hints

1. Consider using a database to store the mapping between original URLs and shortened URLs.
2. Think about how to generate unique and non-guessable shortened URLs.
3. Consider the potential for scaling the service to handle a large number of requests.

Solution

1. Database Design: Use a relational database with two tables: urls and short_urls. The urls table stores the original URL and a unique identifier (e.g., a UUID), while the short_urls table stores the shortened URL and a foreign key referencing the urls table.

2. URL Shortening:

   • Generate a unique identifier (e.g., a UUID or a hash) for each original URL.
   • Convert the unique identifier into a shorter, more readable format (e.g., a 6-character alphanumeric string).
   • Store the mapping between the original URL and the shortened URL in the database.

3. URL Resolution:

   • When a user visits a shortened URL, the service looks up the corresponding original URL in the database using the shortened URL as a key.
   • Redirect the user to the original URL.

4. Scalability:

   • Use a load balancer to distribute incoming requests across multiple servers.
   • Implement caching to reduce database load and improve response times.
   • Consider using a NoSQL database or a key-value store for faster lookups if the number of URLs grows significantly.

Additional Considerations

• Security: Ensure that the shortened URLs cannot be easily guessed or manipulated.
• Monitoring: Implement logging and monitoring to track usage patterns and identify potential issues.
• API: Design a RESTful API for interacting with the service programmatically.

Search Results

• DarkInterview URL: The problem statement is provided directly from the DarkInterview URL.
• Reddit (r/cscareerquestions, r/leetcode, r/csMajors): No relevant discussions found.
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Conclusion

The complete problem statement, examples, constraints, hints, and solution have been provided based on the information available from the DarkInterview URL. No additional relevant information was found from other sources.