LSM trees fix the mess naive key-value stores run into. They blend in-memory sorted indexes with append-only disk files to keep things snappy. Writes get logged, not scattered. Reads stay fast. When files pile up, compaction and segmenting kick in to keep storage lean.
This is a rewrite of the storage playbook. LSM trees lean hard into write performance and memory smarts. Systems like LevelDB and DynamoDB run on them for a reason: scale demands it.
