Back to all scenarios
Scenario #438
Scaling & Load
Kubernetes v1.26, DigitalOcean

Slow Pod Scaling During High Load

Autoscaling pods didn’t trigger quickly enough during sudden high-load events, causing delays.

Find this helpful?
What Happened

Scaling didn’t respond fast enough during high load, leading to poor user experience.

Diagnosis Steps
  • 1Analyzed HPA logs and metrics, which showed a delayed response to traffic spikes.
  • 2Monitored pod resource utilization which showed excess load.
Root Cause

Scaling policy was too conservative with high-load thresholds.

Fix/Workaround
• Adjusted HPA to trigger scaling at lower thresholds.
Lessons Learned

Autoscaling policies should respond more swiftly under high-load conditions.

How to Avoid
  • 1Fine-tune scaling thresholds for different traffic patterns.
  • 2Use fine-grained metrics to adjust scaling behavior.
Previous ScenarioNext Scenario