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Database Load Simulation

This distributed use case simulates sustained write and read pressure on a local data stack so developers can observe behavior under load before integration testing.

The objective is development feedback, not production benchmarking.

Server config for DB load simulation​

{
  "session": {
    "bind": "127.0.0.1:6999",
    "token": "dev-token-db-load"
  },
  "services": {
    "postgres": {
      "cmd": ["postgres", "-D", "./var/postgres"],
      "port": 5432,
      "ready": {
        "type": "tcp"
      }
    },
    "redis": {
      "cmd": ["redis-server", "./infra/redis.conf"],
      "port": 6379,
      "ready": {
        "type": "tcp"
      }
    },
    "api": {
      "cmd": ["pnpm", "--dir", "services/api", "dev"],
      "dependsOn": ["postgres", "redis"],
      "port": 3000,
      "ready": {
        "type": "http",
        "url": "http://127.0.0.1:3000/health"
      }
    },
    "worker": {
      "cmd": ["pnpm", "--dir", "services/worker", "dev"],
      "dependsOn": ["api", "postgres", "redis"]
    },
    "load-generator": {
      "kind": "oneshot",
      "cmd": [
        "sh",
        "-c",
        "for i in $(seq 1 400); do curl -sS -X POST http://127.0.0.1:3000/orders -H 'content-type: application/json' -d '{\"customerId\":\"dev\",\"amount\":42}'; done"
      ],
      "dependsOn": ["api"]
    }
  }
}

Run and inspect​

flowlayer-server -c ./flowlayer.jsonc
flowlayer-client-tui -addr 127.0.0.1:6999 -token dev-token-db-load

What to watch:

  • API logs for request bursts and failures
  • worker logs for queue or retry behavior
  • service status transitions when dependencies restart

Remote execution variant​

For heavier runs, execute the server on a VM or shared machine and connect from your laptop:

flowlayer-client-tui -addr 10.42.0.50:6999 -token dev-token-db-load

If possible, prefer VPN or SSH tunnel access over direct exposure.

Safety precautions​

  • Use dedicated development data stores and credentials.
  • Never point this pattern at production databases.
  • Limit test volume to what your dev environment can handle.
  • Rotate tokens when running on shared hosts.

Boundaries​

  • This pattern simulates runtime behavior for development.
  • FlowLayer is not a load-testing platform and not a production orchestrator.
  • It does not replace Kubernetes, Docker Compose, PM2, or systemd.