Pro Node.js Concepts: Part 6

Mastering the Cluster Module, Error Handling, and API Rate Limiting

Story Time: Preparing for Peak Traffic

Imagine you’re running a popular online store, and it’s Black Friday. Suddenly, thousands of customers flood your website at once, and your server starts struggling to handle the traffic. Without the right infrastructure, this could lead to poor performance, crashes, or even a security breach due to overloading.

In Node.js, you can prepare for these moments by using the Cluster module to distribute incoming requests, handle errors gracefully to keep your server running, and implement rate limiting to protect your API from overuse. Let’s explore these concepts to ensure your Node.js app is ready for the biggest traffic surges.

1. Cluster Module for Scaling

Node.js applications are single-threaded by default, but using the Cluster module, you can create multiple instances (or “workers”) of your application that can run on multiple CPU cores. This allows your app to scale horizontally and handle more traffic efficiently.

How the Cluster Module Works

The Cluster module helps by forking child processes (workers), each running its own…