Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Over the years, customers have asked us for guidance on designing applications using Azure Cosmos DB. Many sought help in implementing common NoSQL patterns, while others needed solutions tailored to Cosmos DB’s unique capabilities. To make these insights more accessible, we created Azure Cosmos DB Design Patterns—a GitHub repository with sample implementations to help developers solve real-world architectural challenges.

In this episode, we explore the Distributed Counter pattern—ideal for handling high-contention scenarios in a globally distributed database. Mark Brown and Jasmine Greenaway break down how this pattern enables scalable, efficient counting across multiple partitions in Azure Cosmos DB—perfect for tracking likes, views, inventory, and more in real-time. Learn how to design for consistency, mitigate contention, and optimize performance for your application.

github.com/Azure-Samples/cosmos-db-design-patterns/tree/main/distributed-lock

🔗 Explore all design patterns: https://aka.ms/AzureCosmosDB/DesignPatterns
🔗 Find all the videos in this series - https://aka.ms/AzureCosmosDB/DesignPatternsVids

#AzureCosmosDB #DistributedSystems #CloudArchitecture

Useful links:

• Azure Cosmos DB Samples Gallery - https://aka.ms/AzureCosmosDB/Gallery
• Try Azure Cosmos DB for free - https://aka.ms/trycosmosdb
• Azure Cosmos DB TV - https://aka.ms/AzureCosmosDBLiveTV
• Subscribe to Azure Cosmos DB on YouTube - youtube.com/AzureCosmosDB
• Follow Azure Cosmos DB on X - twitter.com/AzureCosmosDB
• Follow Azure Cosmos DB on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/azure-cosmos-db