queueing

Turns the standard autoscaling definition into the problem it actually causes. Almost every candidate can define an HPA; far fewer can say why theirs did not save them.

The Indian e-commerce interview question, and autoscaling is the wrong first answer. A 10x spike arriving in seconds outruns any scaling loop, so the design has to absorb rather than scale.

A single FIFO queue is a first-come-first-served promise to whoever submits fastest. Fairness needs per-tenant queues and a scheduler that picks between them, and priority without fairness just moves the problem.