How to prepare Django for a possible slashdotting?

Question

I would like to prepare my website for a possible influx in traffic. This is my first time using Django as a framework, so I'm unsure of the modifications that should be made to assure that I'm ready and won't go down. What are some of the common things one can do to prepare a Django website for production-level traffic?

I'm also wondering what to expect in terms of traffic numbers. I'm currently hosted at Webfaction with 600GB/month of traffic. Will this quickly run out? Are there statistics on how big 'slashdotted' events are?

Answer 1

1. Use memcache and caching middleware.
2. Be sure to offload serving statics.
3. Use CDN for statics. This doesn't directly affect Django, but will reduce your network traffic.

Anything beyond that — read up what others are using:

• Scaling Django Web Apps By Mike Malone
• Instagram Architecture
• DISQUS Architecture