Top Strategies to Optimize High-Traffic Node.js APIs

Source: Dev.to

Leverage Node.js’s Event‑Driven Architecture

Keep I/O operations non‑blocking and use async/await or promises instead of blocking code.

// Use async/await or promises instead of blocking code
const data = await getDataFromDatabase();

Minimize Database Calls

Use in‑memory stores such as Redis or Memcached to cache frequently accessed data.

// Example with Redis
const cacheResult = await redisClient.get('user:123');
if (cacheResult) {
  return res.json(JSON.parse(cacheResult));
}

Utilize Multiple CPU Cores

Run your app across multiple cores with Node’s cluster module and distribute incoming requests using a load balancer (e.g., Nginx, PM2).

const cluster = require('cluster');
const http = require('http');
const numCPUs = require('os').cpus().length;

if (cluster.isMaster) {
  for (let i = 0; i  {
    // Handle request
  }).listen(8000);
}

Optimize Middleware and Libraries

• Avoid unnecessary middleware and deep clones inside API endpoints.
• Prefer lightweight libraries when possible.

// Don’t use deep copies unless you must
const shallowCopy = { ...obj };

Efficient Database Connection Management

Manage database connections carefully to prevent bottlenecks and dropped requests.

Rate Limiting and Abuse Protection

Protect your API and infrastructure from abuse with packages like express-rate-limit.

const rateLimit = require('express-rate-limit');

app.use(
  rateLimit({
    windowMs: 60 * 1000, // 1 minute
    max: 100,            // limit each IP to 100 requests per windowMs
  })
);

Monitoring and Profiling

Use tools such as New Relic, PM2, or Node.js’s built‑in profiler to identify performance bottlenecks and ensure stability under high traffic.