Agree & Join LinkedIn

By clicking Continue to join or sign in, you agree to LinkedIn’s User Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy.

Skip to main content
LinkedIn
  • Articles
  • People
  • Learning
  • Jobs
  • Games
Join now Sign in
Last updated on Feb 19, 2025
  1. All
  2. Engineering
  3. Systems Design

You're faced with client demands for unlimited scalability. How do you balance performance considerations?

When clients demand unlimited scalability, ensuring your systems maintain performance can be a tightrope walk. Here are some strategies to balance these demands:

  • Implement auto-scaling: Use cloud-based services that automatically adjust resources based on demand.

  • Optimize code and queries: Ensure your codebase and database queries are optimized for speed and efficiency.

  • Monitor and adjust: Continuously monitor performance metrics and make necessary adjustments to avoid bottlenecks.

What strategies have worked for you in balancing scalability with performance?

Systems Design Systems Design

Systems Design

+ Follow
Last updated on Feb 19, 2025
  1. All
  2. Engineering
  3. Systems Design

You're faced with client demands for unlimited scalability. How do you balance performance considerations?

When clients demand unlimited scalability, ensuring your systems maintain performance can be a tightrope walk. Here are some strategies to balance these demands:

  • Implement auto-scaling: Use cloud-based services that automatically adjust resources based on demand.

  • Optimize code and queries: Ensure your codebase and database queries are optimized for speed and efficiency.

  • Monitor and adjust: Continuously monitor performance metrics and make necessary adjustments to avoid bottlenecks.

What strategies have worked for you in balancing scalability with performance?

Add your perspective
Help others by sharing more (125 characters min.)
9 answers
  • Contributor profile photo
    Contributor profile photo
    Parth Joshi

    Architect | Engineering Manager | Tech Enthusiast | Driving Innovation with Gen AI

    • Report contribution

    1. Embrace microservices architecture to isolate components and scale independently based on specific workload needs. 2. Implement intelligent caching at multiple levels (CDN, application, database) to reduce redundant processing and database load. 3. Adopt asynchronous processing for non-critical operations to maintain responsiveness during traffic spikes. 4. Utilize vertical scaling strategically for database systems where horizontal scaling introduces complexity. 5. Establish clear performance SLAs and proactively communicate trade-offs to stakeholders, managing expectations through data-driven discussions.

    Like
    3
  • Contributor profile photo
    Contributor profile photo
    Ricky Sun

    Helping the world thrive with connected data

    • Report contribution

    Most clients do NOT know for sure what they mean by unlimited scalability. It's a big, loose, fat, and sometimes exciting requirement. As a matter of fact, many big-data frameworks can do unlimited scalability, such as the stone-age-old Hadoop, however, when talking about performance (which is another big ask and most clients or even vendors don't know for sure), Hadoop, and even Spark, are very backwardish -- meaning: SLOW! The 3 things mentioned, IMO, are too general, too simplified, too ideal, to take care of scalability (& performance) -- techniques like auto-scaling and even cloud-native services do offer some flexibility in terms of on-demand elasticity, but it shouldn't be seen as equivalent to scalability. TBC

    Like
    3
  • Contributor profile photo
    Contributor profile photo
    fawad ahmed

    Senior Field Support Engineer

    • Report contribution

    To balance unlimited scalability with performance, use cloud infrastructure for dynamic resource allocation, implement load balancing to distribute traffic, and continuously monitor and optimize your system. This ensures that your application can handle increasing demand without sacrificing speed.

    Like
    2
  • Contributor profile photo
    Contributor profile photo
    David Devoy

    Principal Systems Engineer (Retired)

    • Report contribution

    Scalabiliy is based on the assumption that all the parameters vary linearly. This is an approximation that only works over a limited range so eventually something becomes non-linear and the scaling doesnt work.

    Like
    1
  • Contributor profile photo
    Contributor profile photo
    Manik Garg

    Engineering at Oracle

    • Report contribution

    I think performance should not be considered once it is demanded, it should be served with every deliverable. Things to be balanced during performance considerations: - Cache the frequent query results using redis. - Add slow log query in the database or use any APM tool to identify the costly queries. - Add appropriate indexes on the columns with higer cardinality and frequent where clause conditions. - Order of conditions in the where clause should be closely evaluated. - Add required timeouts during interservice communication or third party api call. Consider using circuit breaker to avoid bottlenecks. Hope it helps.

    Like
    1
  • Contributor profile photo
    Contributor profile photo
    Doron Tal-Tirkel

    Public representative at the Environment Committee of Karmiel Municipality

    • Report contribution

    Tell the client, “We’ll scale as far as you grow, but let’s keep it fast and affordable.” It’s a balancing act—flexible capacity without choking on complexity.

    Like
    1
  • Contributor profile photo
    Contributor profile photo
    Laxman Marathe

    The next big breakthrough in manufacturing will be an autonomous scheduling system.

    • Report contribution

    I presuppose unlimited scalability is for the software that the client wants to now scale up to the factory level. The problem starts at the design and conceptualization stage. Most developers make erroneous assumptions about "scale", for example a country's population will be in thousands, 25 characters are enough to store a person's name. Nothing can be done later. A software written with false assumptions can never be scaled up. The best solution is to select a designer who thinks realistically.

    Like
  • Contributor profile photo
    Contributor profile photo
    Robert Fulmer

    Technical Project Manager | Expert in Troubleshooting & System Optimization | Proven Efficiency Enhancer | Interested in Agile and Scrum | Transformative Leader

    • Report contribution

    design a system where the scale is just a variable and the system works regardless. use necessary items and trim the fat, like a brisket, doesnt matter the size, you have to get the bark right, the texture and the flavor. Miss one and it wont matter what size it is.

    Like
  • Contributor profile photo
    Contributor profile photo
    Partha Pratim Sarkar

    Experienced Mechanical Engineer | 20+ Years in Industrial System Design

    • Report contribution

    Scaling for Success: How to Balance Performance and Demand Ensuring seamless performance while scaling to meet growing demands can be a delicate balancing act. Here are some proven strategies to help you achieve this balance: 1. Auto-scaling: Leverage cloud-based services that automatically adjust resources to match demand. 2. Optimize code and queries: Fine-tune your codebase and database queries for maximum speed and efficiency. 3. Monitor and adjust: Continuously track performance metrics and make timely adjustments to prevent bottlenecks. What strategies have worked for you in balancing scalability with performance? Share your insights and experiences in the comments below!

    Like
Systems Design Systems Design

Systems Design

+ Follow

Rate this article

We created this article with the help of AI. What do you think of it?
It’s great It’s not so great

Thanks for your feedback

Your feedback is private. Like or react to bring the conversation to your network.

Tell us more

Report this article

More articles on Systems Design

No more previous content
  • You're tasked with ensuring a system can handle growth. How do you test scalability and performance?

    7 contributions

  • Struggling to align developers and designers in system design?

No more next content
See all

More relevant reading

  • System Requirements
    How do you ensure scalability and reliability of your system under different loads and scenarios?
  • Systems Design
    How do you evaluate your system's performance?
  • Systems Management
    How can you balance functionality with limited resources?
  • Scalability
    How do you manage the complexity and dependencies of your elastic and autoscaled components and services?

Explore Other Skills

  • Programming
  • Web Development
  • Agile Methodologies
  • Machine Learning
  • Software Development
  • Data Engineering
  • Data Analytics
  • Data Science
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • Cloud Computing

Are you sure you want to delete your contribution?

Are you sure you want to delete your reply?

  • LinkedIn © 2025
  • About
  • Accessibility
  • User Agreement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Copyright Policy
  • Brand Policy
  • Guest Controls
  • Community Guidelines
Like
1
9 Contributions