Message delivery guarantees in HLD - Architecture Diagram

System Overview - Message delivery guarantees

This system ensures messages sent between users or services are delivered reliably. It supports different delivery guarantees like at-most-once, at-least-once, and exactly-once to meet various application needs.

Key requirements include handling message loss, duplication, and ordering while maintaining scalability and fault tolerance.

Architecture Diagram

User
  |
  v
Load Balancer
  |
  v
API Gateway
  |
  v
Message Producer Service
  |
  v
Message Queue (Broker)
  |
  v
Message Consumer Service
  |
  v
Database
  |
  v
Cache

Components

User

client

Initiates message sending requests

Load Balancer

load_balancer

Distributes incoming requests evenly to API Gateway instances

API Gateway

api_gateway

Handles client requests, authentication, and routes to producer service

Message Producer Service

service

Accepts messages from users and publishes them to the message queue

Message Queue (Broker)

message_queue

Stores messages reliably and supports delivery guarantees

Message Consumer Service

service

Consumes messages from the queue and processes or delivers them

Database

database

Stores message metadata and delivery status for tracking and deduplication

Cache

cache

Speeds up access to recent message delivery states to reduce database load

Request Flow - 8 Hops

User → Load Balancer

Load Balancer → API Gateway

API Gateway → Message Producer Service

Message Producer Service → Message Queue (Broker)

Message Queue (Broker) → Message Consumer Service

Message Consumer Service → Database

Message Consumer Service → Cache

Message Consumer Service → User

Failure Scenario

Component Fails:Message Queue (Broker)

Impact:Messages cannot be stored or delivered, causing message loss or delay

Mitigation:Use replicated queues with failover; retry producers on failure; persist messages on disk

Architecture Quiz - 3 Questions

Which component ensures messages are stored reliably before delivery?

A Cache

B Message Queue (Broker)

C Load Balancer

D API Gateway

Design Principle

This architecture demonstrates how to achieve reliable message delivery by combining a message queue for durability, services for processing, and caching for performance. It uses layered components to handle failures gracefully and meet different delivery guarantees.

Practice

1. Which message delivery guarantee ensures that a message is never delivered more than once, but some messages might be lost?

easy

A. Exactly once

B. At most once

C. At least once

D. None of the above

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand 'At most once' guarantee

   This guarantee means messages can be lost but never duplicated.

2. Step 2: Compare with other guarantees

   'At least once' may duplicate messages, 'Exactly once' avoids loss and duplication but is complex.

3. Final Answer:

   At most once -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   At most once = no duplicates, possible loss [OK]

Hint: No duplicates but possible loss means 'At most once' [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing 'At most once' with 'At least once'
• Thinking 'Exactly once' is simple
• Assuming 'At most once' never loses messages

2. Which of the following is the correct description of the 'Exactly once' message delivery guarantee?

easy

A. Messages are delivered once without loss or duplication

B. Messages may be lost but never duplicated

C. Messages may be duplicated but never lost

D. Messages are delivered at least once, possibly duplicated

Solution

1. Step 1: Define 'Exactly once' guarantee

   This guarantee ensures each message is delivered once, no loss, no duplication.

2. Step 2: Eliminate other options

   'Messages may be lost but never duplicated' is 'At most once', 'Messages may be duplicated but never lost' and 'delivered at least once, possibly duplicated' describe 'At least once'.

3. Final Answer:

   Messages are delivered once without loss or duplication -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Exactly once = no loss, no duplicates [OK]

Hint: Exactly once means no loss and no duplicates [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Mixing 'Exactly once' with 'At least once'
• Believing 'Exactly once' allows duplicates
• Confusing 'At most once' with 'Exactly once'

3. Consider a message queue system that uses 'At least once' delivery. If a message is sent and the receiver crashes before acknowledging, what is the likely outcome?

medium

A. The message is lost and never delivered

B. The message is delivered once without duplication

C. The message is delivered at most once

D. The message may be delivered multiple times

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand 'At least once' behavior on receiver crash

   If receiver crashes before ack, sender retries, causing possible duplicates.

2. Step 2: Analyze options

   The message is not lost but sender retries on no ack, so may be delivered multiple times to ensure at least once.

3. Final Answer:

   The message may be delivered multiple times -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   At least once = possible duplicates [OK]

Hint: Receiver crash before ack causes duplicates in 'At least once' [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming message is lost on crash
• Confusing 'At least once' with 'At most once'
• Ignoring possibility of duplicates

4. A system claims to provide 'Exactly once' delivery but sometimes messages are duplicated. What is the most likely cause?

medium

A. The system uses 'At least once' delivery without deduplication

B. The system uses 'At most once' delivery internally

C. The system does not handle acknowledgments properly

D. The system drops messages on network failure

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify cause of duplicates in 'Exactly once'

   Duplicates usually happen if 'At least once' is used without deduplication.

2. Step 2: Evaluate other options

   'At most once' causes losses not duplicates, improper ack handling or dropping messages cause losses or retries but exactly once needs deduplication atop at least once.

3. Final Answer:

   The system uses 'At least once' delivery without deduplication -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Duplicates mean missing deduplication in 'At least once' [OK]

Hint: Duplicates in 'Exactly once' mean missing deduplication [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming 'At most once' causes duplicates
• Ignoring deduplication step
• Confusing message loss with duplication

5. You are designing a payment processing system that must never lose or duplicate transactions. Which message delivery guarantee should you choose and why?

hard

A. At most once, because it avoids duplicates

B. At least once, because it ensures no message loss

C. Exactly once, because it guarantees no loss and no duplicates

D. None, because message delivery guarantees are not relevant

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify system requirements

   Payment processing must avoid losing or duplicating transactions.

2. Step 2: Match guarantee to requirements

   'Exactly once' ensures messages are delivered once without loss or duplication, fitting the need.

3. Final Answer:

   Exactly once, because it guarantees no loss and no duplicates -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Payment systems need exactly once delivery [OK]

Hint: No loss or duplicates means choose 'Exactly once' [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Choosing 'At most once' and risking loss
• Choosing 'At least once' and risking duplicates
• Ignoring delivery guarantees in critical systems