# On building scalable control planes

DevFeed: [On building scalable control planes](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/on-building-scalable-control-planes-12436.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.allthingsdistributed.com/2026/08/on-building-scalable-control-planes.html>)

Author: werner@allthingsdistributed.com (Dr. Werner Vogels)

Published: 2026-08-04T14:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [All Things Distributed](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/all-things-distributed.md>)

Topics: [distributed-systems](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/distributed-systems.md>), [Amazon Web Services](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/aws.md>), [Amazon EC2](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/amazon-ec2.md>), [DSQL](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/dsql.md>), [Cloud](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cloud.md>)

Tags: [aws](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/aws.md>), [cloud](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cloud.md>), [distributed-systems](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/distributed-systems.md>), [dsql](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/dsql.md>), [infrastructure](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/infrastructure.md>), [kubernetes](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/kubernetes.md>), [posts](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/posts.md>), [servers](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/servers.md>), [ssh](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ssh.md>)

## AI overview

This article explores the engineering of scalable control planes through Zak van der Merwe's experience building them at AWS, first for EC2 and later for DSQL. It explains how control planes record intended state and reconcile it with actual state, bringing together difficult distributed-systems problems and influencing whether services can survive growth.

## Source excerpt

Zak van der Merwe has spent his entire career at AWS building control planes. First for EC2 and now for DSQL. On the surface, the control plane looks quite boring: it records what should exist and reconciles that with what actually does. Nobody leaves school dreaming of building one, but Zak will be the first to tell you that if you like solving hard problems in distributed systems, there are few better places to be. It's where many of those hard problems converge, and where the decisions you make determine whether a service survives its own growth.