Throttle requests

Throttling requests helps mitigate resource exhaustion due to unexpected increases in demand. By limiting the rate of incoming requests, you can ensure that your system remains available and performant, even during demand spikes. Requests that are below the throttling rate are processed as usual, while requests that exceed the limit are rejected with a message indicating that they were throttled. This approach protects critical resources and maintains the stability of the system under heavy load.

Establish throttling champions in each team: Assign throttling champions within each workload team to oversee the implementation of throttling mechanisms. These champions ensure that appropriate rate limits are defined and implemented to prevent resource exhaustion, maintaining system reliability during unexpected demand surges.

Provide training on throttling techniques: Train builder teams on best practices for throttling requests, including how to implement rate limiting and how to communicate throttling to clients. Training should include scenarios where throttling is needed, how to use AWS services for rate limiting, and best practices for managing rejected requests. Proper training helps teams understand the importance of throttling in maintaining system stability.

Develop throttling guidelines and standards: Create clear guidelines for implementing throttling across services. These guidelines should include best practices for setting rate limits, handling rejected requests, and using throttling to protect critical resources. Documented standards help ensure consistent throttling implementation across all services and workloads, improving reliability and user experience.

Integrate throttling validation into CI/CD pipelines: Integrate validation checks into CI/CD pipelines to ensure that appropriate throttling mechanisms are in place. Automated tests can simulate high request loads to verify that rate limits are enforced and that throttled requests are handled correctly, reducing the risk of system failures due to unexpected demand.

Define automated guardrails for throttling: Use automated tools to enforce throttling mechanisms across services. Tools like AWS API Gateway, Amazon CloudFront, and AWS WAF can be used to implement rate limiting and manage request flows to avoid resource exhaustion. Automated guardrails help maintain system stability by preventing an overload of requests from consuming critical resources.

Foster a culture of proactive rate management: Encourage builder teams to prioritize throttling when designing systems that may be exposed to varying levels of demand. Recognize and reward teams that effectively implement throttling mechanisms to maintain stability during unexpected demand spikes. Open discussions about lessons learned from resource exhaustion events can help create a culture that values proactive rate management and resource protection.

Conduct regular throttling reviews: Schedule regular reviews to evaluate throttling configurations and ensure that rate limits are appropriate for current system capabilities. These reviews should assess whether throttling limits are adequately protecting resources and whether adjustments are needed based on changes in demand patterns. Regular reviews help maintain a focus on preventing resource exhaustion and improving system resilience.

Leverage automation for consistent throttling implementation: Use Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like AWS CloudFormation or AWS CDK to automate the deployment of throttling mechanisms. Automating these processes helps ensure consistency across environments and prevents gaps in throttling implementation that could lead to resource exhaustion.

Provide dashboards for visibility into request rates and throttling: Use dashboards to provide visibility into request rates, throttled requests, and system performance under load. Tools like Amazon CloudWatch and AWS X-Ray can help track request volumes, identify when throttling is triggered, and assess the overall effectiveness of rate limiting. Dashboards help builder teams proactively manage request flow and ensure system stability.

Supporting Questions

• How do you ensure that builder teams implement appropriate throttling mechanisms to protect system resources?
• What mechanisms are in place to validate that throttling is functioning correctly during periods of high demand?
• How do you align throttling practices with organizational standards for resource protection and reliability?

Roles and Responsibilities

Throttling Champion (within Builder Team)

Responsibilities:

• Guide the implementation of throttling mechanisms to protect critical resources and maintain system stability.
• Define rate limits that balance system capacity with demand, ensuring reliability under heavy load.

Application Developer

Responsibilities:

• Implement throttling features within APIs or services to manage request rates.
• Use automated tools to validate that rate limits are enforced and throttled requests are handled correctly.

Operations Team Member

Responsibilities:

• Assist builder teams with configuring throttling mechanisms to prevent resource exhaustion.
• Provide guidance and training to ensure alignment with best practices for throttling and managing rate limits.

Artifacts

Throttling Guidelines and Standards: A document outlining best practices for implementing throttling, including setting rate limits and handling rejected requests.

Training Resources for Throttling Management: Hands-on labs, workshops, and documentation to help teams understand how to implement throttling to protect resources effectively.

Automated Throttling Validation Configurations: Scripts and configurations that help automate the validation of throttling mechanisms across services and environments.

Relevant AWS Services

Training and Awareness Tools:

• AWS Skill Builder and AWS Well-Architected Labs: Resources for learning about throttling, rate limiting, and designing reliable systems.
• AWS Trusted Advisor: Provides insights into workload configurations and recommendations for improving throttling and resource protection.

Throttling Implementation and Guardrails:

• AWS API Gateway: Provides built-in rate limiting and throttling controls to manage API request volumes.
• AWS WAF: Protects applications by limiting incoming requests based on rate limits, helping prevent resource exhaustion.
• Amazon CloudFront: Manages request flows to help mitigate demand spikes, ensuring consistent performance.

Monitoring and Visibility Tools:

• Amazon CloudWatch: Tracks metrics like request rate and throttled requests, providing alerts when rate limits are approached or exceeded.
• AWS X-Ray: Traces requests across services to identify bottlenecks and verify that throttling mechanisms are functioning properly.
• AWS CloudFormation: Codifies throttling configurations to automate and standardize rate limiting across environments.