How Discord Stores Billions of Messages (2017) • Hacker News Board

Re: How Discord Stores Billions of Messages (2017)

#111

Post by didibus » Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 8:12 PM UTC

victortroz wrote: post #80

Nadya wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At my work we use Discord to have virtual "desks" (really just audio channels) so people can drop by and chat while you are at your desk. If you're busy or don't wish to be disturbed you can 'lock' your desk to prevent people from joining it (it limits the room size to 1, aka just you). It really has helped the social factor of moving nearly everyone in the office to remote working. Every department that has adopted…

Slack implemented something similar called Huddles, but I think is for paid plans only. I personally think Slack calls quality in general are much worse than other services or platforms like Discord or Meets/etc, so I don't know if it'll really help reaching people and companies that are using alternatives for voice.

Huddles uses Amazon's chime backend for audio, so it should perform much better then the current "audio calls" that slack had, though I haven't tried it yet.

Re: How Discord Stores Billions of Messages (2017)

#112

Post by mvanaltvorst » Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 8:12 PM UTC

jonshariat wrote: post #57

RHSeeger wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, I find discord super frustrating. Can't have multiple chats open at the same time, can't close the right rail, etc. It's UX is subpar in almost every way that matters to me. I use it because _everyone_ uses it, not because I want to.

Ditto, feels fast and has a lot of features but to me the UX is very confusing.

Personally, I find that Discord feels extremely bloated compared to almost any other program on my computer. Probably has to do with the fact that Discord has still not released a native ARM version of its client for the Apple M1. Nearly a year after its release there really is no excuse for any Electron application to stick to x86_64+Rosetta 2.

Discord is literally the only x86 application that is still installed on my MacBook Pro M1.

Re: How Discord Stores Billions of Messages (2017)

#113

Post by res0nat0r » Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 8:12 PM UTC

Sikul wrote: post #63

res0nat0r wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I applied the other month for a job that mentioned SFO or remote, then halfway through the signup it stated that they were allowing folks to work remote until COVID was better, then wanted folks to be onsite, and then prompted for a yes/no if I was willing to move to SFO at a later date. Didn't get a chance to talk to anyone and expect it was because of this, so is a bit disappointing.

That's weird. Do you have a link to the job posting?

I believe it was this one: https://discord.com/jobs/4004051002

I see a couple of Storage Engineer job links below, I should apply to one of those too... :)

Re: How Discord Stores Billions of Messages (2017)

#114

Post by andrewstuart » Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 8:14 PM UTC

I'd first reach for Postgres to do this. Anyone have any idea how Postgres would stack up in a similar challenge?

Re: How Discord Stores Billions of Messages (2017)

#115

Post by secondcoming » Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 8:15 PM UTC

They should check out Scylla if they want even faster queries and - depending on their workload - fewer instances.

Edit: It seems they have moved to Scylla

Re: How Discord Stores Billions of Messages (2017)

#116

Post by atom_arranger » Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 8:16 PM UTC

derefr wrote: post #101

atom_arranger wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slack uses a language that is like markdown, but is not markdown, which is annoying for engineers. Slack does not support syntax highlighting of code blocks. Discord uses proper markdown and supports syntax highlighting. These are two things that make me think Discord is better specifically for engineers, aside from it just being generally way better.

> Slack does not support syntax highlighting of code blocks. It does, but only if you make your code block into its own post as a "text snippet." (I assume this is because Slack's internal markup doesn't allow regions to have parameterized metadata, but there is parameterized metadata at the chat-post-event level.) You also get other benefits of doing this, e.g. being able to collapse the snippet, download it, etc. C…

Yeah, I have done that. It’s really clunky. I’ve also done it to be able to use headings and other things that I’d prefer just worked in the main chat.

Re: How Discord Stores Billions of Messages (2017)

#117

Post by hi5eyes » Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 8:18 PM UTC

nonbirithm wrote: post #74

kccqzy wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've also noticed that in a lot of tech-related social circles people are increasingly choosing Discord over Slack. That's a trend I totally didn't expect: at least until a few years ago it was clear that Discord was for gamers and Slack was for work and everyone else. That changed quickly. Impressive indeed!

They also pivoted their marketing message away from being "for gamers" and towards anyone who wanted "a place to hang out," like developer groups or high schoolers.

Discord’s pushing for school groups to use it, especially with the .edu pop up on launch

Discord School Hubs page: https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/4406046651927-...

https://www.reddit.com/r/discordapp/comments/p37s7s/so_disco...

Re: How Discord Stores Billions of Messages (2017)

#118

Post by didibus » Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 8:18 PM UTC

bhouser wrote: post #94

bhouser wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Discord would be awesome for work ... I want to use it so bad. But the terms of service are completely unpalatable. Discord basically gets a perpetual license to anything you post.

The reason for Discord over Slack, BTW is voice & video. Otherwise Slack is working great.

Slack added voice now: https://slack.com/help/articles/4402059015315-Start-a-huddle...

Re: How Discord Stores Billions of Messages (2017)

#119

Post by kaladin-jasnah » Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 8:18 PM UTC

secondcoming wrote: post #115

They should check out Scylla if they want even faster queries and - depending on their workload - fewer instances. Edit: It seems they have moved to Scylla

They already did—https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28293097, main article: https://www.scylladb.com/press-release/discord-chooses-scyll...

Re: How Discord Stores Billions of Messages (2017)

#120

Post by bcrosby95 » Tue, Aug 24, 2021, 8:19 PM UTC

NotAnOtter wrote: post #7

This is like a masterclass in how to answer system design questions. Maybe a bit verbose. They cover requirements, how to answer those requirements, relevant tech for the problem, implementation, and techniques for maintenance

Are you saying that one person, without consulting other engineers, or having to do any research, made this decision in less than a day? Because I have some bad news for you.

The sentiment you express here is why interviewing is so shit these days.