From stress to success. Is your database ready for peak loads?

Data is the new gold, Tino wrote a blog about it. If you want to get the most out of your data as an organization, you can’t do without a smoothly running database. Whether it’s payments, inventory management, or orders, everything needs to run smoothly. Slow loading times and crashes can scare customers off and seriously damage revenue and your reputation. What happens in the event of a sudden spike in traffic? Is your database prepared for the hustle and bustle of, for example, concert ticket sales or a large event? In this blog, Edco Wallet, co-founder of OptimaData, shares some valuable tips to make your database peak-proof.

Edco Wallet

Co-Founder & eigenaar

Telefoonnummer E-mailadres

Slow loading times drive customers away

Especially during busy periods – think of Black Friday, ticket sales for popular concerts or major sporting events – it is important that you have a well-performing database. If not, you can get into a lot of trouble. Did you know that 40 percent of people drop out of a slow website? Even one second of extra loading time can lead to a 20 percent drop in conversions. And only a handful of people will give it another try. There go you – potential customers. And your turnover. In short: your database must be in top condition to meet the high expectations. These tips will get you a long way.

Measure and increase your previous traffic spike by 10 percent

A good way to test whether your database environment can handle a spike in workload is to take last year’s traffic as a base and increase it by 10 percent. Analyzing that historical traffic not only gives you a point of reference, but also insight into potential problems that have occurred before. By scaling that traffic slightly, you can see if your solution can withstand the expected growth for next year. Depending on your business strategy, you can repeat the same tests with an even higher load, for example with an increase of 25 or even 50 percent, in order to calculate different scenarios and be optimally prepared.

Develop a monitoring plan

Keep a close eye on your database environment, not only during peak periods, but also before and after. For example, pay attention to the number of queries, possible delays in query response times, and the load and saturation of both disk and CPU usage. With a solid monitoring plan, you can identify potential issues early, create strong backup plans, and deploy additional resources in time to prevent a database crash.

Have sufficient resources and support

A database environment is not only about the interaction between hardware, software and architecture with applications and web pages. During busy periods, it can be overwhelming for database administrators or teams to troubleshoot and fix system errors over and over again, especially in a global environment where “downtime” is not an option. Therefore, make sure you have enough staff available or on standby, 24 hours a day, with the right expertise to diagnose problems quickly and implement solutions effectively.

Establish a backup and recovery strategy

Your database environment is up and running, performance is optimized, availability is guaranteed, and queries are sharpened. But even with the best preparation, a malfunction can still occur. If the database goes down unexpectedly, for whatever reason, your applications will come to a standstill. That is why it is important to have a solid backup and recovery strategy on the proverbial shelf. Record this process well and share it with all important stakeholders. This will ensure that everyone knows the procedures and prevent the entire process from depending on one individual.

Test regularly and simulate outage scenarios

Regularly test how your database environment responds to heavy loads. Make sure the system responds as expected and that everyone involved is fully aware of the contingency plans. Gradually increase the load to explore the limits of your database. Simulate outage scenarios and measure how quickly the system recovers. By going through different scenarios, you can be sure that everything will continue to run smoothly when it really matters. It is always better to discover weak spots in the system before an emergency occurs.

Are you ready for an unexpected peak load?

Are you sure your database can handle a sudden traffic spike? If you have any doubts, we are happy to help you. OptimaData offers tailor-made support, so that your database is always running at full power, regardless of the workload. Contact us for more information about a database quick scan, database support contracts, managed database services or other database solutions. Together, we build a robust database environment that guarantees your performance, even when it really matters.

At OptimaData, we work the Dutch way: open, direct and goal-oriented. This ensures that your database has the strength to withstand peak loads.