1. Using Clustering
Example: Cluster module
import cluster from "node:cluster";
import os from "node:os";
if (cluster.isPrimary) {
for (let i = 0; i < os.availableParallelism(); i++) cluster.fork();
cluster.on("exit", (worker) => { logger.warn({ pid: worker.process.pid }, "worker died"); cluster.fork(); });
} else {
await import("./server.js");
}
Note: In containerized deployments, prefer running one Node process per container and let the orchestrator (Kubernetes) handle horizontal scaling.
2. Enabling Gzip Compression
Example: At edge
app.use(compression({ threshold: 1024 })); // or terminate at Nginx/CDN
3. Implementing Caching Strategies
| Layer | Tool |
|---|
| Browser | Cache-Control, ETag |
| CDN / proxy | s-maxage, Vary |
| App | In-memory LRU, apicache |
| Distributed | Redis, Memcached |
| DB | Materialized views, query cache |
4. Using Connection Pooling
Example: pg Pool
new pg.Pool({ max: 20, idleTimeoutMillis: 30_000 });
5. Optimizing Database Queries
| Technique | Notes |
|---|
| Add indexes on filter/sort columns | Use EXPLAIN ANALYZE to verify |
| Avoid N+1 | Use JOIN, include, DataLoader |
| Select only needed columns | No SELECT * |
| Paginate large results | Limit + cursor |
| Use prepared statements | Re-use plans, prevent injection |
6. Lazy Loading Resources
Example: Dynamic import
app.get("/report", async (req, res) => {
const { generateReport } = await import("./heavy-report.js");
res.json(await generateReport(req.query));
});
7. Using CDN for Static Assets
| Pattern | Benefit |
|---|
| Hashed asset URLs | Long-cache + safe invalidation |
| Origin-pull CDN | Zero-config; cache HEAD/GET only |
| Push to S3 + CloudFront | Decouple from app server |
8. Implementing Response Streaming
Example: ndjson streaming
app.get("/export", async (req, res) => {
res.type("application/x-ndjson");
for await (const row of db.cursor()) res.write(JSON.stringify(row) + "\n");
res.end();
});
9. Minimizing Middleware Stack
Warning: Every app.use() runs on every request. Mount middleware only on the routes that need it.
Example: Scoped middleware
// instead of app.use(heavyMiddleware) globally:
app.use("/admin", heavyMiddleware, adminRouter);
10. Using HTTP/2 with SPDY
Example: Node http2 + Express
// Native http2 + Express requires the http2-express-bridge wrapper, OR
// terminate HTTP/2 at the reverse proxy and forward HTTP/1.1 to Express.
// Recommended: Nginx/Cloudflare HTTP/2 → Express HTTP/1.1
Note: Express does not natively support Node's http2 module. Terminate HTTP/2 at the reverse proxy.
| Tool | Use |
|---|
node --prof | V8 profiler |
| clinic.js | Doctor, Flame, Bubbleprof |
| 0x | Flame graphs |
| autocannon | HTTP benchmarking |
| OpenTelemetry | Distributed traces |
12. Monitoring Memory Usage
Example: Memory metrics
setInterval(() => {
const m = process.memoryUsage();
metrics.gauge("rss_bytes").set(m.rss);
metrics.gauge("heap_used_bytes").set(m.heapUsed);
metrics.gauge("heap_total_bytes").set(m.heapTotal);
}, 15_000);