Which method should a Database Specialist use to scale the ElastiCache cluster ahead of the upcoming event?
Enable cluster mode on the existing ElastiCache cluster and configure separate shards for the Sorted Set across all nodes in the cluster.
Increase the size of the ElastiCache cluster nodes to a larger instance size.
Create an additional ElastiCache cluster and load-balance traffic between the two clusters.
Use the EXPIRE command and set a higher time to live (TTL) after each call to increment a given key.
Explanations:
Enabling cluster mode on the existing ElastiCache cluster would allow partitioning of the data across multiple shards, but this would involve significant changes to the setup and may require application modifications. This is not the best immediate solution for scaling the cluster.
Increasing the size of the ElastiCache cluster nodes to a larger instance size is a straightforward and effective way to handle higher write loads. By selecting larger instance types, the cluster can handle more traffic without requiring application changes.
Creating an additional ElastiCache cluster and load-balancing traffic can introduce complexity, as it requires managing two separate clusters and ensuring data consistency between them. This is not as simple or effective as scaling the existing cluster.
Using the EXPIRE command and setting a higher TTL would only affect the expiration of keys, not the ability to scale the cluster for increased write load. This does not address the need for better performance under heavy load.
I scheme that the answer is:
Increase the size of the ElastiCache cluster nodes to a larger instance size.