Managing a high-traffic Laravel application? If your API receives thousands of requests, you need performance optimization to prevent CPU/RAM overload.

1️⃣ Understanding Entry Processes

Every time a request hits Laravel, it spawns a new PHP process. If your server allows 50 entry processes, only 50 requests can be processed simultaneously.

ps aux | grep php

To optimize:

• Use queues instead of processing in real-time.
• Limit unnecessary API calls.

2️⃣ Laravel Throttle Middleware

Throttle API requests to prevent excessive load:

Route::middleware(['throttle:10,1'])->post('/route-update', [Controller::class, 'update']);

Problem: Throttle works per IP, so multiple IPs can still overload your server.

3️⃣ Use Queues Instead of Processing in Real-time

Instead of saving each request instantly, push it to a queue.

php artisan queue:work --daemon --queue=default --max-jobs=100 --max-time=300

This prevents database overload.

4️⃣ Prevent DDoS & Bot Attacks

Rate limiting doesn’t stop bot attacks. Use Cloudflare:

• Enable WAF (Web Application Firewall)
• Block suspicious IPs
• Use reCAPTCHA on API endpoints

5️⃣ Optimize PHP & Server Configuration

For Nginx/PHP-FPM users, optimize workers:

pm.max_children = 10
pm.start_servers = 3
pm.min_spare_servers = 2
pm.max_spare_servers = 5

This prevents PHP from using too many processes at once.

🚀 Conclusion

By implementing these strategies, you’ll prevent server crashes, reduce CPU usage, and optimize Laravel API performance.

Need help? Let me know! 😊