Split-brain write conflicts
Your 3-node primary-replica database cluster spans two availability zones (2 nodes in AZ-a, 1 in AZ-b). A cloud network event partitions AZ-a from AZ-b for ~8 minutes. Dashboards during the partition: write latency in AZ-b spikes and some writes fail; after the partition heals you see a burst of replication conflicts and a few customer reports of 'I updated my profile and it reverted.' Recent context: someone recently 'tuned for availability' and lowered the write-quorum / enabled an auto-failover that promotes aggressively. How do you triage and mitigate?
What a strong answer looks like
Stop the bleeding first (mitigate), then form hypotheses from real signals. Separate root cause from symptom, communicate status as you go, and close with what prevents a repeat.
0:00 of about 45 min
Which questions mattered is sealed until you submit. Telling you now would just be handing over the edge cases.
Run or narrate your approach, then ask the coach.