Problems / Resilience, easy

A rate limit below real traffic

A rate limiter in front of the API allows 1,000 req/s. Normal peak traffic is 1,300 req/s, so real users get 429s.

Free to open. Runs in your browser, no sign-up.

Your goals

Success ≥ 99%.

The traffic

1,300 requests a second for 30 seconds: 90% reads, 10% writes.

The system

What each component does in this design, and what calls it. The simulator mimics each one from these settings.

ComponentIts job hereSettings
Rate limiterRate limiterTraffic enters here.Calls Load balancer.Most limiters use a token bucket: tokens refill at the rate, and the bucket size is the burst you allow.1,000 req/s
Load balancerLoad balancerRate limiter forwards to it.Calls API.Layer 4 balancers route by IP and port; layer 7 balancers read HTTP and can route by path or header.–
APIApp serviceLoad balancer forwards to it.Calls Redis cache (checked first), Postgres.Little's law: throughput ≈ concurrency ÷ latency. 200 slots at 50 ms serve about 4,000 req/s.3 replicas × 200 slots · timeout 1.0 s
Redis cacheCacheAPI checks it first for reads.An in-memory cache like Redis usually answers in well under a millisecond inside one region.95% hit rate
PostgresSQL databaseAPI reads it when Redis cache misses. API calls it for writes.Postgres runs one process per connection, which is why poolers like PgBouncer sit in front of busy databases.8 vCPU · 60 connections

Hints

Try it first. Open one hint at a time if you get stuck.

Hint 1

Nothing behind the limiter is busy.

Hint 2

Limits protect against abuse; set them above legitimate peaks.

One way to solve it

Raise the rate limit above the real peak.

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