The Node.js Scalability Myth

Presentation given at the BerlinJS user group on March 15, 2012.

Transcript

1. The Node.js Scalability Myth Felix Geisendörfer 15.03.2012 at BerlinJS user group
2. (@)felixge(.de)
3. transloadit.com (using node since v0.0.6)
4. core contributor
5. I need to build an über-scalable web service. It will be the next big thing!
6. Easy! I will use node.js and MongoDB!
7. Easy! I will use node.js and MongoDB!
8. Because node.js is “scalable”, right?
10. Audience?
11. Backend Developers?
12. Are you measuring app performance in production?
13. 1000 req / s
14. 100 req / s
15. 10 req / s
16. 10 requests / per second = 864000 requests / day 10 req / s
17. Scalability
19. The Node.js Scalability Myth • Threads don’t scale • Event loops do
20. The Node.js Scalability Myth • Threads don’t scale • Event loops do (Probably) not true in 2012 (Very likely) not relevant
21. More relevant • Understanding scalability • Using the right tool for the job
22. Vertical Scalability
23. Adding more resources to a single node
25. Vertical Scalability • CPU • GPUs • Memory • Disk • Network
26. CPU
27. Computers of the future will have hundreds of cores!
28. CPU • Node is single threaded (runs on a single CPU) • Using multiple CPUs requires multiple node processes (usually via prefork) • No shared memory
29. CPU (v8) • V8 compiles JS to Assembly • Just-in-time compilation (JIT) • Does reasonably well in those language “benchmarks”
30. GPUs
31. GPUs • No support in node itself • node-cuda addon by Kashif Rasul
32. Memory
33. 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
34. Network
35. Network • Node’s network stack is a thin layer on top of underlaying system calls • Good at fully saturating network interfaces
36. Disk
37. Disk • Done in thread pool • Unfortunately along with DNS at this point • Throughput ok, but not ideal yet
38. Horizontal Scalability
39. Adding more nodes to a system
40. Horizontal Scalability • Node has no horizontal scaling specific features, but ... • Fast networking & JSON / Buffers -> DIY
41. Horizontal Scalability • Simple stack (requires only build tools, python) • Deployable without container server • Good package management via npm
42. Horizontal Solution “I have the full solution ...”
43. Horizontal Solution “... but unfortunately it did not fit on this slide”
44. tl;dr • Know your requirements • There are no silver bullets
45. Questions? Slides will be available at felixge.de
46. Thanks