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.
What makes a system scalable? In this episode, Mojtaba Saroonghi explains why simplicity is the secret to scalability. Saroonghi explains why avoiding complexity helps minimize the risk of failure while improving troubleshooting, deployment, and the overall scalability of a system. He walks though how Queue-it has maintained simplicity as it has grown, the allure of complexity, and how architects can incorporate simplicity into their system design and development.
Episode page
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This episode’s guest is Mojtaba Saroonghi, a Distinguished Product Architect at Queue-it. Moji was one of the company’s first employees, starting his journey as a software developer over 10 years ago. He is highly experienced with AWS services, product and architectural design, managing developer teams, and defining and executing on product vision.
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) – Welcome & Introduction
- (01:08) – Moji’s Background
- (01:59) – What Makes a System Scalable?
- (05:19) – Trade-offs of Simplicity vs. Complexity
- (11:37) – Simplicity in scalability
- (13:00) – Simplicity and complexity in Queue-it
- (17:32) – Everyday Complexity in Engineering
- (19:22) – Quickfire Round
- (23:40) – Wrap-up
© Queue-it, 2025

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