Building Resilient Systems

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Building Resilient Systems

Instructors: Ahmed Elhenedy

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4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

9 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

9 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Explain core resilience engineering principles and differentiate between failure types in modern distributed systems.
Analyze system architectures to identify single points of failure and resilience gaps that could impact availability.
Develop disaster recovery strategies aligned with defined business requirements such as RTO and RPO.
Evaluate monitoring, observability, and incident response practices to improve system reliability and operational resilience.

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There are 4 modules in this course

Building resilient systems requires more than knowing individual tools—it demands the ability to design architectures that anticipate failure and recover effectively. In this intermediate course, you will learn how to apply resilience engineering principles to modern distributed systems, focusing on high availability, fault tolerance, and disaster recovery planning.

You will analyze how and why systems fail, identify hidden risks in system architecture, and design strategies that improve uptime and reliability. The course connects key concepts such as load balancing, redundancy, observability, and incident response into a cohesive resilience strategy aligned with business goals like RTO and RPO. Designed for IT professionals, DevOps engineers, and system architects, this course emphasizes practical decision-making, trade-offs, and operational readiness. By the end, you will be able to design resilient architectures, strengthen system reliability, and lead effective incident management and continuous improvement practices.

This module introduces the core concepts behind resilient system design. Learners will explore why failures are inevitable, how resilient systems differ from traditional architectures, and the foundational principles used to build systems that can withstand, adapt to, and recover from disruptions. The module sets the mindset and technical baseline required for designing reliable and fault-aware systems.

What's included

11 videos2 readings1 assignment1 peer review1 discussion prompt

11 videosTotal 86 minutes

Welcome to Building Resilient Systems7 minutes
Module Introduction 3 minutes
Why Systems Fail 9 minutes
Failure Types and Their Impact 10 minutes
Learning from Real-World Outages 10 minutes
Defining Resilience in Modern Systems 8 minutes
Key Characteristics of Resilient Architectures 8 minutes
Resilience v/s. Traditional Design Approaches 8 minutes
Core Principles of Resilience Engineering8 minutes
Redundancy, Diversity, and Isolation 7 minutes
Trade-offs in Resilient Design 9 minutes

2 readingsTotal 10 minutes

Welcome to the Course: Course Overview5 minutes
Designing Resilient Systems 5 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 20 minutes

Foundations of Resilient Systems20 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 10 minutes

Hands-On-Learning: Identifying Failure Risks in a System Design 10 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Designing for Failure Before It Happens10 minutes

This module focuses on designing systems that remain available despite failures. Learners will explore high availability concepts, fault tolerance techniques, and architectural patterns used to eliminate single points of failure. The module emphasizes practical design decisions that improve uptime while balancing cost and complexity.

What's included

10 videos1 reading1 assignment1 peer review1 discussion prompt

10 videosTotal 77 minutes

Module Introduction 3 minutes
What High Availability Really Means8 minutes
Availability Metrics and SLAs 7 minutes
Eliminating Single Points of Failure 13 minutes
Active-Active v/s. Active-Passive Designs 6 minutes
Load Balancing and Traffic Distribution 8 minutes
Failover Mechanisms and Health Checks 7 minutes
Designing for Partial Failures 8 minutes
Graceful Degradation and Backpressure 8 minutes
Containing Failures with Isolation 9 minutes

1 readingTotal 5 minutes

High Availability and Fault-Tolerant Architecture 5 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 20 minutes

High Availability and Fault Tolerance Design20 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 10 minutes

Hands-On-Learning: Designing a High Availability Architecture 10 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Balancing Availability, Cost, and Complexity10 minutes

This module focuses on preparing systems and teams to recover from major disruptions. Learners will explore backup and recovery strategies, define recovery objectives, design disaster recovery testing approaches, and create operational runbooks that support consistent and effective recovery. The module emphasizes planning, decision-making, and operational readiness rather than tool-specific implementation.

What's included

10 videos1 reading1 assignment1 peer review1 discussion prompt

10 videosTotal 74 minutes

Module Introduction 5 minutes
Backup Strategies and Recovery Models 8 minutes
Understanding RTO and RPO 8 minutes
Designing Backup and Recovery Solutions 8 minutes
Why Disaster Recovery Testing Matters 8 minutes
Types of Disaster Recovery Tests 6 minutes
Developing Disaster Recovery Testing Procedures 8 minutes
What is an Operational Runbook 7 minutes
Runbook Structure and Best Practices 8 minutes
Creating Effective Recovery Runbooks 10 minutes

1 readingTotal 5 minutes

Disaster Recovery Planning and RTO or RPO Concepts 5 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 20 minutes

Disaster Recovery Planning and Operational Readiness20 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 10 minutes

Hands-On-Learning: Creating a Disaster Recovery Plan10 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Evaluating Recovery Readiness in Real-World Environments10 minutes

This module focuses on maintaining system reliability through effective monitoring, observability, and structured incident management. Learners will explore how logs, metrics, and traces provide system visibility, how alerting strategies support timely response, and how post-incident reviews drive continuous improvement. The module emphasizes operational effectiveness and learning from incidents rather than tool-specific implementation.

What's included

11 videos1 reading1 assignment2 peer reviews1 discussion prompt

11 videosTotal 66 minutes

Module Introduction 2 minutes
Monitoring v/s. Observability 6 minutes
Observability Pillars: Logs, Metrics, and Traces 6 minutes
Implementing Comprehensive Observability 7 minutes
Principles of Effective Alerting 6 minutes
Alert Thresholds and Escalation Paths 6 minutes
Designing Effective Alerting Strategies 6 minutes
Incident Lifecycle and Response Review 9 minutes
Conducting Productive Post-Incident Reviews 7 minutes
Driving Continuous Improvement from Incidents 6 minutes
Course Wrap-Up5 minutes

1 readingTotal 5 minutes

Observability and Incident Management Fundamentals 5 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 20 minutes

Monitoring, Observability, and Incident Management20 minutes

2 peer reviewsTotal 70 minutes

Hands-On-Learning: Incident Analysis and Post-Incident Review 10 minutes
Project: Designing and Defending a Resilient System Architecture60 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Designing Observability and Alerting for Real Impact10 minutes

Instructors

Ahmed Elhenedy

Starweaver

1 Course55 learners

Offered by

Starweaver

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