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The Node.js Scalability Myth
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Felix Geisendörfer
March 16, 2012
Programming
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The Node.js Scalability Myth
Presentation given at the BerlinJS user group on March 15, 2012.
Felix Geisendörfer
March 16, 2012
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Transcript
The Node.js Scalability Myth Felix Geisendörfer 15.03.2012 at BerlinJS user
group
(@)felixge(.de)
transloadit.com (using node since v0.0.6)
core contributor
I need to build an über-scalable web service. It will
be the next big thing!
Easy! I will use node.js and MongoDB!
Easy! I will use node.js and MongoDB!
Because node.js is “scalable”, right?
None
Audience?
Backend Developers?
Are you measuring app performance in production?
1000 req / s
100 req / s
10 req / s
10 requests / per second = 864000 requests / day
10 req / s
Scalability
None
The Node.js Scalability Myth • Threads don’t scale • Event
loops do
The Node.js Scalability Myth • Threads don’t scale • Event
loops do (Probably) not true in 2012 (Very likely) not relevant
More relevant • Understanding scalability • Using the right tool
for the job
Vertical Scalability
Adding more resources to a single node
None
Vertical Scalability • CPU • GPUs • Memory • Disk
• Network
CPU
Computers of the future will have hundreds of cores!
CPU • Node is single threaded (runs on a single
CPU) • Using multiple CPUs requires multiple node processes (usually via prefork) • No shared memory
CPU (v8) • V8 compiles JS to Assembly • Just-in-time
compilation (JIT) • Does reasonably well in those language “benchmarks”
GPUs
GPUs • No support in node itself • node-cuda addon
by Kashif Rasul
Memory
Memory • No hard memory limit on 64 bit (since
node-0.6 / v8-3.6.5) • JS is a garbage collected language (avoid huge heaps) • Buffers do not count towards heap
Network
Network • Node’s network stack is a thin layer on
top of underlaying system calls • Good at fully saturating network interfaces
Disk
Disk • Done in thread pool • Unfortunately along with
DNS at this point • Throughput ok, but not ideal yet
Horizontal Scalability
Adding more nodes to a system
Horizontal Scalability • Node has no horizontal scaling specific features,
but ... • Fast networking & JSON / Buffers -> DIY
Horizontal Scalability • Simple stack (requires only build tools, python)
• Deployable without container server • Good package management via npm
Horizontal Solution “I have the full solution ...”
Horizontal Solution “... but unfortunately it did not fit on
this slide”
tl;dr • Know your requirements • There are no silver
bullets
Questions? Slides will be available at felixge.de
Thanks