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Distributed Systems

All Things Distributed Blog

10 articles on EngBrief

All Things Distributed is Werner Vogels's personal blog. As Amazon's CTO, Vogels has been writing since 2006 about distributed systems, cloud computing, databases, and the architectural principles behind AWS. Posts blend academic rigor with real-world engineering lessons learned at one of the world's largest technology companies.

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Latest Articles

AllApr 22, 2026

The invisible engineering behind Lambda’s network

Here's a 3-sentence summary of the engineering blog post: AWS Lambda's network team optimized the platform's networking infrastructure to reduce latency and enable serverless workloads. They solved the VPC cold start problem by rewriting Geneve tunnel headers using eBPF, reducing latency from 150 milliseconds to 200 microseconds and removing a fundamental blocker for high-density microVMs. This innovation paved the way for Lambda SnapStart, which further reduced cold start times by cloning pre-initialized execution environments and required the team to reimagine their network topology to support isolated network namespaces for concurrent invocations.

Distributed SystemsArchitectureCloud
1 min
AllApr 7, 2026

S3 Files and the changing face of S3

Here's a summary of the article "S3 Files and the Changing Face of S3" in 2-3 concise sentences: Amazon S3 team developed S3 Files to address data friction caused by the differences in API interfaces between various tools and storage systems, leading to inefficient data copying and consistency management. This solution aimed to decouple data from individual applications and make it easier to access and work with, especially in parallel computing environments. As a result, S3 Files enables users to run complex analytics and machine learning workloads more quickly and efficiently, reducing the barrier to entry for non-technical domain experts.

Distributed SystemsArchitectureCloud
1 min
AllFeb 17, 2026

A chat with Byron Cook on automated reasoning and trust in AI systems

Byron Cook's team at Amazon has applied automated reasoning to prove the correctness of critical systems such as authorization engines, cryptographic implementations, and virtualization layers, now extending this to agentic systems for AI-powered decision-making. Automated reasoning checks in Amazon Bedrock Guardrails enable customers to verify AI outputs with up to 99% accuracy, crucial for industries like finance and healthcare. This is achieved by combining symbolic and statistical methods in neurosymbolic AI, which enables formal proof or disproof of safety properties and correctness of AI outputs.

Distributed SystemsArchitectureCloud
1 min
AllJan 27, 2026

Education is not one-size-fits-all for the latest CTO Fellows

Here's a 2-3 sentence summary of each of the Now Go Build CTO Fellows: **Adheejit Khandagale**: Adheejit leverages technology to create equitable opportunities for grassroots entrepreneurship education in South Asia through his organization, Vruksh Ecosystems, reaching over 1.7 million people with his AI microlearning platform. As a CTO Fellow, he aims to strengthen technical leadership and scale solutions. His work focuses on turning constraints into opportunities for positive change. **Adnan Ahmed Qureshi**: Adnan develops innovative digital learning models, such as the Digital MicroSchool, to deliver foundational education to marginalized students worldwide. Through the CTO Fellowship, he seeks global recognition, connections, and leadership skills to amplify his work and leverage technology sustainably for social impact. His model has proven results in challenging environments. **Alexandra Kroenert**: Alexandra co-founded Soma Rights to provide trustworthy reproductive health information and support to young people in regions with

Distributed SystemsArchitectureCloud
1 min
AllDec 16, 2025

A little bit uncomfortable

The author reflects on their long-standing fear of public speaking and anxiety-provoking events, acknowledging that these experiences have contributed to their personal and professional growth. They propose that vulnerability and pushing into the unknown are essential for growth, citing the Yerkes-Dodson law, which suggests that optimal performance is achieved under heightened stress. The author encourages leaders to recognize and support team members who are taking risks and navigating discomfort. They advocate for embracing uncertainty and quiet persistence as key components of bravery.

Distributed SystemsArchitectureCloud
1 min
AllNov 25, 2025

Tech predictions for 2026 and beyond

Here is a 3-sentence summary of the engineering blog post "Tech predictions for 2026 and beyond": Amazon's Astro team is witnessing a shift from transactional device interactions to relationship-building with physical AI that demonstrates nuanced emotional intelligence and responsive behaviors, creating a companionship revolution to address the loneliness epidemic. Companion robots are effective in combating loneliness, with clinical evidence supporting their ability to form genuine emotional bonds with users, and have the potential to provide both practical care support and meaningful emotional connections. As people form deep trust with these robotic companions, the companies building them must implement strong controls to ensure responsible development and protect users from exploitation.

Distributed SystemsArchitectureCloud
1 min
AllOct 29, 2025

What is USSD (and who cares)?

Here is a 2-3 sentence summary of the blog post "What is USSD (and who cares)": USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) is a decades-old messaging standard that enables real-time communication between mobile devices and networks, often used for transactional activities like money transfers and fuel purchases, particularly in regions with limited internet access. Companies like M-Pesa and Moniepoint have successfully leveraged USSD to build sophisticated cloud architectures and deliver large-scale financial services despite hardware limitations, proving that simplicity and functionality can be more effective than high-tech solutions. This approach demonstrates a key principle of good engineering: finding elegant solutions for hard problems that blend into the background of everyday life.

Distributed SystemsArchitectureCloud
1 min
AllOct 1, 2025

Development gets better with Age

As a seasoned developer, you've accumulated a wealth of experience, having seen patterns repeat themselves over decades and encountering various problems, allowing you to develop a keen sense of what works and what doesn't. With the rise of generative AI, this knowledge and experience are crucial in navigating its potential benefits and limitations. By taking a cautious approach and educating others, you can ensure that AI is used judiciously and effectively in solving real business problems.

Distributed SystemsArchitectureCloud
1 min
AllAug 6, 2025

Removing friction from Amazon SageMaker AI development

Amazon SageMaker AI developers face two major frictions: the "SSH workaround tax" and the "observability paradox". The former forces developers to choose between their preferred development environment and access to powerful compute, due to complex SSH connections and security issues. To address this, Amazon introduced a new StartSession API that securely enables remote connections to SageMaker AI and handles network interruptions. The observability paradox occurs when monitoring systems become performance bottlenecks, failing to prevent cascading failures in large-scale model training. Amazon resolved this by rethinking observability architecture, implementing auto-scaling collectors, and detecting both binary and grey failures in a single dashboard. This allows teams to identify root causes in minutes, shifting from reactive troubleshooting to proactive alerts and reducing the time spent on infrastructure issues.

Distributed SystemsArchitectureCloud
1 min
AllJul 7, 2025

Building with purpose: Stories from the Now Go Build CTO Fellows

Nine Now Go Build CTO Fellows from social impact organizations focus on global challenges like disaster management, climate resilience, and food security with technology solutions. The fellows leverage data, tools, and domain expertise to create impact in crisis zones, underserved communities, and climate-affected regions worldwide. Episodes of a five-part series document the fellows' work in crisis mapping, AI and open data, food security, community empowerment, and crisis decision-making.

Distributed SystemsArchitectureCloud
1 min