---
last_verified: 2026-03-14
pattern: Compute Scaling
category: compute
---

description: |
  Auto-scaling and load balancing patterns for OCI compute workloads.

patterns:
  instance_pool_autoscaling:
    name: "Instance Pool Auto-Scaling"
    components:
      - "Instance Pool with instance configuration"
      - "Auto-scaling policy (metric-based or schedule-based)"
      - "Load Balancer (flexible or network)"
    scaling_metrics:
      - "CPU utilization"
      - "Memory utilization"
      - "Custom metrics via Monitoring service"
    scaling_speed: "New instances in 2-5 minutes"
    when_to_use:
      - "Stateless applications"
      - "Web/API tiers"
      - "Batch processing with variable load"

  oke_horizontal_pod_autoscaling:
    name: "OKE Horizontal Pod Autoscaler"
    components:
      - "OKE cluster with managed nodes"
      - "HPA resource definitions"
      - "Cluster Autoscaler for node scaling"
    scaling_metrics:
      - "CPU utilization"
      - "Memory utilization"
      - "Custom metrics"
    scaling_speed: "Pods: seconds, Nodes: 5-10 minutes"
    when_to_use:
      - "Containerized microservices"
      - "Applications already on Kubernetes"

  oke_virtual_nodes:
    name: "OKE Virtual Nodes (Serverless)"
    components:
      - "OKE cluster with virtual node pool"
      - "No node management required"
    scaling_speed: "Seconds (no node provisioning)"
    when_to_use:
      - "Burst workloads"
      - "Event-driven container workloads"
      - "Teams that don't want to manage nodes"

load_balancing:
  flexible_lb:
    type: "Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS)"
    features:
      - "SSL termination"
      - "Path-based routing"
      - "Session persistence"
      - "Health checks"
      - "WAF integration"
    bandwidth: "10 Mbps to 8 Gbps"
    use_for: "Web applications, API endpoints"

  network_lb:
    type: "Layer 4 (TCP/UDP)"
    features:
      - "Ultra-low latency"
      - "Preserves source IP"
      - "Health checks"
    bandwidth: "Up to line rate"
    use_for: "Database connections, non-HTTP protocols, high-throughput"