Burst capacity tested at 10x normal volume
Why it matters
Queue workers that have never been tested at above-normal volume reveal their breaking points in production: the rate limiter was set to a library default, concurrency was never tuned, and the ESP starts returning 429s at 3x normal volume. ISO 25010 reliability.fault-tolerance requires that the system behaves predictably under adverse load conditions. Without a burst test script that runs against a sandbox ESP at 10x normal volume, the concurrency and rate limiter values are guesses — and the first real burst is the test.
Severity rationale
High because untested burst capacity means the first high-volume send reveals queue configuration failures in production, where bounces and ESP throttling are real and affect sender reputation.
Remediation
Add a burst test script to the repository (e.g., scripts/burst-test.ts) that enqueues 10x normal daily volume against the ESP sandbox:
const NORMAL_DAILY = 10_000
const BURST_MULTIPLIER = 10
for (let i = 0; i < NORMAL_DAILY * BURST_MULTIPLIER; i++) {
await queue.add('send-email', {
to: `burst-test-${i}@example.com`,
template: 'burst-test'
})
}
console.log(`Enqueued ${NORMAL_DAILY * BURST_MULTIPLIER} jobs. Monitor queue depth and ESP rate.`)
Set explicit concurrency and rate limiter values — not library defaults — before running. After the test, document peak memory usage, time to drain, and any rate limit errors observed.
DetectionPro
The detection method for this pattern is part of AuditBuffet Pro.
The full method (what to look for, pass and fail conditions, and how results get reported) ships inside the Operational Resilience (Email) Audit. The pattern definition, severity rationale, and remediation remain openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0.
External references
- iso-25010:2011 · reliability.fault-tolerance — Reliability / Fault Tolerance — burst capacity must be validated before production load spikes
- iso-25010:2011 · performance-efficiency.capacity — Performance Efficiency / Capacity — 10x burst test verifies capacity headroom
Taxons
History
- 2026-04-18·v1.0.0·Initial import from operational-resilience-email·automated