Smooth scaling: System design for high traffic
Smooth scaling: System design for high traffic
Podcast Description
Smooth Scaling: System Design for High Traffic focuses on all things scalability, reliability, and performance. Tune in for expert advice on how to scale systems, control costs, boost availability, optimize performance, and get the most out of your tech stack.
Host Jose Quaresma is the VP of Technical Engagement at Queue-it, working on the frontlines with some of the world’s biggest businesses on their busiest days, from Ticketmaster to Zalando to Home Office U.K. He’ll be joined by experts across industries, uncovering how major organizations design, build, and deploy systems that remain reliable at scale.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast centers on scalability, reliability, and performance of systems. Topics include design principles for failure, simplicity versus complexity in architecture, and real-world examples from major organizations like Ticketmaster and Zalando. Episodes like 'Simple is Scalable' with Mojtaba Saroonghi delve into maintaining simplicity to enhance scalability, while 'Design for Failure' with Martin Larsen covers architectural approaches that increase resilience.
Smooth Scaling: System Design for High Traffic focuses on all things scalability, reliability, and performance. Tune in for expert advice on how to scale systems, control costs, boost availability, optimize performance, and get the most out of your tech stack.
Host Jose Quaresma is the VP of Technical Engagement at Queue-it, working on the frontlines with some of the world’s biggest businesses on their busiest days, from Ticketmaster to Zalando to Home Office U.K. He’ll be joined by experts across industries, uncovering how major organizations design, build, and deploy systems that remain reliable at scale.
In this episode, Martin Jensen, Head of Engineering, breaks down the true cost of scaling for peak demand. He explains the limits of autoscaling, when pre-scaling makes sense, and how tools like virtual waiting rooms are used to handle sudden spikes in traffic. Martin also discusses system bottlenecks, performance trade-offs, and practical strategies for staying in control during high-demand moments like ticket sales, product drops, and popular registrations.
Episode page
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This episode´s guest is Martin Jensen. Martin Nørskov Jensen is an experienced engineering leader and Head of Engineering at Queue-it. With 15+ years in software development and 5+ years in leadership, he builds agile, high-performing teams focused on collaboration, trust, and engineering excellence.
Host Jose Quaresma is the VP of Technical Engagement at Queue-it, working on the frontlines with some of the world’s biggest businesses on their busiest days, from Ticketmaster to Zalando to Home Office U.K. Each week, he’ll be joined by experts across industries, uncovering how major organizations design, build, and deploy systems that perform at scale.
This podcast is hosted by José Quaresma, researched by Joseph Thwaites and produced by Perseu Mandillo.
- (00:00) – Intro
- (00:58) – Meet Guest Martin Jensen
- (02:10) – What exactly *is* peak demand?
- (03:20) – Real-world peak-traffic examples
- (05:39) – Auto- vs pre-scaling strategies
- (07:09) – Scaling limits & hidden costs
- (10:11) – Virtual waiting rooms explained
- (13:33) – How queues + scaling fit together
- (18:45) – CDNs, caches & other toolkits
- (26:08) – Key take-aways & pro tips
- (29:32) – Outro
© Queue-it, 2025
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