Capacity Overprovisioning
Capacity overprovisioning is a strategy in computing and infrastructure management where more resources (such as CPU, memory, storage, or network bandwidth) are allocated than are typically needed to handle peak workloads. This approach ensures that systems can accommodate unexpected spikes in demand without performance degradation or downtime. It is commonly used in data centers, cloud computing, and IT infrastructure to maintain reliability and availability.
Developers should learn about capacity overprovisioning when designing scalable systems, especially in production environments where high availability is critical, such as e-commerce platforms or financial services. It helps prevent service disruptions during traffic surges, but it can lead to higher costs and underutilized resources, so it's often balanced with techniques like auto-scaling. Use cases include legacy systems with unpredictable loads, mission-critical applications, and scenarios where rapid scaling is not feasible.