Pattern 87 / SHADOW

Shadow Traffic

Use this when Testing a new service with production-shaped input safely.

Pressure: Testing a new service with production-shaped input safely
Mechanism: Copy real requests to a non-authoritative path and discard responses
Toll: Privacy, side effects, and amplified load must be controlled

Diagram for Shadow Traffic — Architecture plate87

Executive brief

Shadow Traffic fits when Testing a new service with production-shaped input safely. Mechanism: Copy real requests to a non-authoritative path and discard responses. Use it for Performance validation, migrations, model/service launches. The toll: Privacy, side effects, and amplified load must be controlled.

Use when

Performance validation, migrations, model/service launches.

Example

Use shadow traffic when performance validation, migrations, model/service launches..

Review framing

Describe the pressure first, then the mechanism, then the cost. That keeps the design grounded.

Same pressure family