Senior Backend Engineer & Systems Architect

I build scalable systems that handle real-world complexity.

10+ years architecting high-traffic platforms serving tens of millions of users. Distributed systems, real-time infrastructure, and revenue-generating products — designed, built, and owned end-to-end.

0+ years building
production systems
0M+ monthly users
served at peak
0+ revenue platforms
built independently
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Systems Experience

Systems I've Built

Anonymized case studies. What matters is the architecture, the scale, and the problems solved.

01

High-Traffic Streaming Infrastructure

30M+ users1000+ endpoints

Problem

Build a video delivery platform serving massive concurrent traffic across a thousand streaming endpoints, with low latency at minimal infrastructure cost.

What I Built

  • Custom proxy and delivery layer for high-concurrency video streaming
  • Unified backend infrastructure serving 1000+ streaming sites
  • Intelligent load distribution for traffic spike absorption
  • Cost-optimized delivery — high throughput, low spend

Hard Parts

  • Handling concurrency surges without degradation
  • Proxy layer latency reduction by orders of magnitude
  • Keeping infrastructure costs viable at 30M user scale
PHPMySQLLinuxNginxCustom ProxyCDN Architecture
02

Distributed Real-Time Communication Platform

Multi-serverP2P streaming

Problem

A fully self-hosted video hosting and real-time streaming platform with peer-to-peer capabilities, distributed across multiple servers with coordinated internal APIs.

What I Built

  • Distributed video infrastructure across multiple nodes
  • Real-time P2P streaming with low-latency delivery
  • Internal API orchestration for cross-server coordination
  • Custom upload pipelines with streaming optimization

Hard Parts

  • Multi-server state synchronization and consistency
  • Designing P2P architecture for real-time streaming
  • Scaling infrastructure while maintaining reliability
PHPNode.jsWebSocketsP2PDistributed SystemsLinux
03

Automated Transaction & API Orchestration System

Revenue-generatingMulti-gateway

Problem

A fully automated SaaS connecting multiple external providers — handling real-time provisioning, payment processing, and customer lifecycle with zero manual intervention.

What I Built

  • Multi-provider integration with real-time API provisioning
  • Payment orchestration: Stripe, crypto, regional gateways
  • Automated invoicing, customer management, lifecycle workflows
  • Self-sustaining system generating ongoing revenue

Hard Parts

  • Multi-gateway payment reconciliation and failure recovery
  • Real-time provisioning across unreliable third-party APIs
  • Complete business automation — zero human in the loop
PHPLaravelMySQLStripeREST APIsWebhooks
04

Low-Latency Screen Sharing System

Real-timeP2PDesktop + Web

Problem

Build a real-time screen sharing platform with sub-second latency peer-to-peer communication between desktop clients, with a hybrid backend for signaling and sessions.

What I Built

  • Electron-based desktop client with native screen capture
  • Hybrid PHP + Node.js backend for signaling and orchestration
  • P2P architecture optimized for screen sharing performance
  • Custom real-time communication protocol

Hard Parts

  • Achieving sub-second latency in P2P connections
  • Cross-platform desktop client architecture
  • Real-time signaling server design
ElectronNode.jsPHPWebRTCP2PWebSockets
05

Social Data Processing & Automation Engine

Large-scale dataAPI migration

Problem

Process and analyze massive social media datasets with complex filtering — and survive a full API migration when the platform changed its rules overnight.

What I Built

  • Large-scale data ingestion and processing pipeline
  • Rule-based filtering engine with configurable logic
  • API abstraction layer enabling seamless provider migration
  • Graceful degradation during policy transitions

Hard Parts

  • Migrating from unofficial to official APIs without downtime
  • Processing large datasets with complex rule-based filtering
  • Building resilience against third-party API instability
PHPMySQLREST APIsMeta APIsData Processing
06

Blockchain-Based Digital Asset Platform

Smart contractsNFT generation

Problem

Design a complete digital asset ecosystem: token contracts, algorithmic NFT generation with trait rarity systems, minting infrastructure, and automation tooling.

What I Built

  • ERC20 token + NFT smart contract ecosystem
  • Algorithmic NFT generation with trait rarity control
  • Whitelist management and automated minting platform
  • Bot infrastructure for blockchain interaction

Hard Parts

  • Smart contract security and gas optimization
  • Controlled rarity distribution in trait algorithms
  • Reliable minting under network congestion
SolidityNode.jsWeb3ERC20ERC721Smart Contracts
Technical Depth

Expertise

Backend Engineering

PHP Expert — Laravel, custom architectures, millions served
Node.js Real-time, WebSocket servers, streaming, Electron
Python Automation, scripting, data pipelines
API Design REST, webhooks, multi-provider orchestration

Database Systems

MySQL Expert — modeling, indexing, query optimization at scale
Schema Design Normalized architectures for complex domains
Performance Query analysis, slow query resolution, large-scale ops
Oracle Enterprise solutions, ZFS, petabyte-scale migrations

Systems & Architecture

Distributed Multi-server orchestration, state sync, consistency
Real-Time WebSockets, P2P, WebRTC, low-latency protocols
Concurrency Traffic spikes, load distribution, proxy optimization
System Design End-to-end ownership, whiteboard to production

Infrastructure

Linux Sysadmin, provisioning, security, shell scripting
Virtualization VMware ESXi, resource management, multi-server
Networking DNS, reverse proxies, load balancing, CDN
Deployment CI/CD, production ops, monitoring, incidents
Engineering Principles

How I Think

I don't build features — I own systems.

From architecture decisions to 3 AM production incidents. Full lifecycle ownership isn't a preference, it's how I've operated for over a decade.

Every line of code exists within a larger system.

I think in data flow, failure modes, and maintainability. When I write a function, I'm thinking about what happens when it's called ten million times.

Performance is a day-one requirement.

Not an afterthought. Systems I build are designed to handle 10x their current load from the start. That's not over-engineering — that's engineering.

The best architecture is the simplest one that works.

I avoid unnecessary abstractions, trendy patterns, and complexity theater. If a junior can't read it, it's too clever.

0PB
Oracle database migrated — compressed to 200TB, relocated across cities for a major financial institution.
0+
Streaming endpoints served through a single unified backend infrastructure I designed and operated.
E2E
End-to-end ownership. Architecture, development, deployment, scaling, operations — I don't hand off, I deliver.

Let's build something that scales.

If you're working on something interesting that needs serious backend engineering, let's talk.

mail@sonercolak.com
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