# How Canva Utilizes S3 for Session Management The technical details behind managing millions of user sessions securely and efficiently. - **Source:** [programming](https://brifing.si/source/21f413d8-a401-41ca-83b1-904b87bb8257) - **Published:** 2026-07-23 - **Topic:** [Software & Engineering](https://brifing.si/c/engineering) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/95968c72-942e-436a-b4dd-80c135491c7a ## Canva's Session Management Challenge Canva needed a scalable solution to manage hundreds of millions of active user sessions. The existing system faced performance issues under increasing user load, posing risks to security and user experience. ## Advantages of S3 Amazon S3 became an ideal choice for storing session data due to its high availability and durability. Canva engineers realized they could optimize session management with S3's low latency and high bandwidth. ## Technical Challenges Continuous updates to session data and high consistency requirements were significant hurdles. A new architectural approach was developed to ensure data consistency in distributed systems. ## Redesign Process Canva's engineering team designed a pipeline on S3 to speed up session revocation. This new system processed session data more efficiently, reducing delays. ## Performance Gains The new solution brought substantial performance improvements to session management. Users experienced faster logins, and the system became more secure, boosting overall satisfaction. ## Scalability and Future Canva's S3-based solution provides a future-proof infrastructure. This approach serves as an inspiring example for other large-scale applications. ## Sources covering this story - https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1v44xfb/how_canva_uses_s3_for_loggedin_session_management/ — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._