I'm looking for advice on how to effectively scale my backend application, which runs in Docker containers on a Google Compute Engine (GCE) virtual machine. Currently, Nginx is set up on the same VM to handle incoming requests, but monitoring tools like Prometheus and Grafana are showing the backend's CPU usage spiking to 200%. This suggests there's serious resource contention.
Here are some of my specific questions:
1. **Horizontal Scaling Within the Same VM**: Is it a good idea to add more backend containers on the same VM? Given that the CPU is already maxed out, won't this just worsen the resource contention? If my traffic increases, will I need to add more VMs?
2. **Nginx Placement**: Should I consider moving Nginx to a different VM or a managed load balancer to reduce competition for resources?
3. **Alternative Strategies**: What would be your recommendations for scaling this system effectively?
1 Answer
To really optimize your system, start by setting a performance goal for your app. Think about how quickly you want to respond to user interactions. Then, gather data to see if you’re meeting that goal. If you’re not, you may need to either optimize your app or your infrastructure. When in doubt, run some tests to see how your changes impact performance!
Well stated! I love this approach of measuring performance before making changes.