Distributed
← Core building blocks

Lesson 01.6

Back-of-envelope estimation

Back-of-envelope estimation turns explicit workload assumptions into approximate request rates, storage needs, and bandwidth so a design can be sized and tested.

The average day hides the busy hour

Ava and Ben plan computers for a large cookie-ordering website. Dividing a day's requests evenly across the day looks easy, but many customers arrive together. The busy time needs more room.

In this lesson you'll

  1. 1Follow one run and learn how to read the picture
  2. 2Predict what changes before revealing the result
  3. 3Plan for 50% more customers at the busy time