Design a system that can handle leading traffic for a social media platform's notifications system. Describe the key components you would include to ensure both scalability and reliability.

## What to Cover When discussing the system, cover database design, message queue handling, and caching strategies. Address how you would ensure data consistency and reliability, handling bursts of notifications during peak hours. Discuss strategies like exponential backoff for retries and failover mechanisms for databases. ## Strong Answer Framework 1. Overview of requirements. 2. High-level architecture diagram (if needed). 3. Database choice rationale. 4. Caching strategies. 5. Handling traffic spikes. 6. Strategies for message processing reliability. ## Watch Out For Avoid overly complex designs; focus on clarity and feasibility. Be prepared to defend your choices.