Capacity Planning for Traffic Spikes
Capacity planning is making sure your system has enough resources to handle the load placed on it — including the busy peaks, not just an average day.
Good planning keeps your product fast and available during exactly the moments that matter most, such as a campaign or seasonal rush.
What We Consider
- Expected normal traffic and its daily pattern.
- Predictable peaks such as sales, launches or seasons.
- Unexpected spikes from press coverage or viral content.
- How quickly the system can add resources when needed.
Planned vs Automatic Scaling
For predictable events we scale up in advance. For the unexpected, automatic scaling adds capacity as demand rises and removes it when things calm down, so you pay for what you use while staying resilient. We also load-test ahead of major events to confirm the system will cope.
The goal is to protect both your customer experience and your budget. Too little capacity means slow pages or outages at the worst moment; too much means paying for idle resources. Good planning finds the sensible balance between the two.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if traffic far exceeds our forecast?
Automatic scaling and sensible safeguards absorb most surges, and we agree limits so a spike protects your service without an unexpected bill.
If you need a hand with any of this, your Progressive Robot delivery team is ready to help. Raise a ticket from the Support area of your client portal or speak to your account manager and we will guide you through the next steps.