# Avoiding Cascading Failures

Quick Reference: Single Point of Failure | Why Microservices

# Quick Reference

Cascading Failure: Failure in one component causes failures in others

Prevention: Circuit breakers, bulkheads, timeouts, retries, rate limiting

Patterns: Circuit breaker pattern, bulkhead pattern, graceful degradation

# Clear Definition

Cascading Failures occur when failure in one component causes failures in dependent components, potentially bringing down the entire system. Prevent through isolation, circuit breakers, and graceful degradation.

💡 Key Insight: Isolate failures to prevent propagation. Use circuit breakers, timeouts, and bulkheads.

# Core Concepts

# Circuit Breaker Pattern

• Closed: Normal operation
• Open: Failing, reject requests immediately
• Half-Open: Testing if service recovered

# Bulkhead Pattern

• Isolate resources
• Failure in one area doesn't affect others
• Separate thread pools, connections

# Other Techniques

• Timeouts: Don't wait indefinitely
• Retries: Exponential backoff
• Rate Limiting: Prevent overload
• Graceful Degradation: Reduce functionality instead of failing

# Best Practices

1. Circuit Breakers: Implement in service calls
2. Timeouts: Set appropriate timeouts
3. Bulkheads: Isolate resources
4. Monitoring: Track failure rates

# Quick Reference Summary

Cascading Failures: Failure propagation through system.

Prevention: Circuit breakers, bulkheads, timeouts, retries.

Key: Isolate failures to prevent propagation.

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