Amazon
Senior
Build the core in-memory engine behind AWS ElastiCache and MemoryDB, extending open-source Valkey
Own the data path, durability layer, replication protocol, and advanced data structures (including vector and full-text search) inside Amazon's Valkey-compatible in-memory database. Deep C/C++ systems work at the intersection of database internals and distributed systems, serving customers like Disney+, Snap, Zoom, Lyft, and Airbnb at sub-millisecond latency.
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What this interview tests
- In-memory database durability: transaction logs, snapshotting, replication
- Performance engineering: memory allocators, I/O optimization, lock-free concurrency
- Extending open-source systems (Valkey) with new capabilities without breaking compatibility
- Active-active replication and conflict resolution for distributed data
- Production debugging: crash dumps, memory corruption, hot-path profiling
- Technical leadership and mentoring
Common question themes
Design the durability/replication layer for a sub-millisecond in-memory database
A time you tuned a memory allocator or I/O path for major throughput gains
Integrating a new feature (e.g., vector search) into an open-source engine without breaking compatibility
Debugging a production memory-corruption or crash-dump issue in C/C++
Tradeoffs in active-active replication and conflict resolution
Leading an architecture/design review and mentoring engineers on the team
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