Technical scaling strategies

Technical scaling isn't about throwing more servers at problems. It's about architecting systems that grow efficiently. The path from monolith to microservices represents a fundamental shift in how products handle growth.

Teams should start with vertical scaling - upgrading server capacity and optimizing database queries. This buys time but hits hard limits. Horizontal scaling comes next, distributing load across multiple servers. Load balancers, caching layers, and CDNs (content delivery networks) become essential infrastructure.

The real transformation happens with architectural changes. Breaking monoliths into microservices allows teams to scale individual components independently. Netflix processes billions of requests daily using this approach. Each service owns its data and scales based on specific needs.