Learn from GitHub

When a Database Surge
Crippled GitHub Actions

In 2020, a sudden surge in database connections brought GitHub Actions to its knees for 8 hours, revealing a hidden flaw in the job dispatch queue. Incident Drill lets your team practice responding to similar CI/CD outages and prevent them in the future.

GitHub | 2020 | Outage (CI/CD)

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The High Stakes of CI/CD Failures

CI/CD pipelines are the lifeblood of modern software development. When they fail, the impact is immediate and severe. Slowed development cycles, delayed releases, and frustrated engineers are just the beginning. Without proper incident response training, these failures can quickly escalate into major crises.

PREPARE YOUR TEAM

Practice Incident Response with Realistic Simulations

Incident Drill provides realistic simulations of incidents like the GitHub Actions outage, allowing your team to practice their incident response skills in a safe, controlled environment. We focus on hands-on learning, clear communication, and effective collaboration to build resilient engineering teams.

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Realistic Simulations

Experience incidents that mirror real-world scenarios.

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Collaborative Environment

Work together with your team to resolve incidents.

⏱️

Time-boxed Scenarios

Practice making critical decisions under pressure.

📊

Detailed Post-Mortems

Analyze your performance and identify areas for improvement.

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Curated Incident Library

Access a growing library of incident simulations based on real-world events.

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Team Performance Tracking

Track your team's progress and identify skill gaps.

WHY TEAMS PRACTICE THIS

Master CI/CD Incident Response

✓ Reduce Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR)
✓ Improve Communication and Collaboration
✓ Identify and Address System Vulnerabilities
✓ Enhance Team Confidence and Preparedness
✓ Minimize the Impact of Future Outages
✓ Increase Engineering Team Resilience

0:00

Database Connection Surge Detected ERROR

0:15

Job Dispatch Queue Overload ERROR

0:30

GitHub Actions Service Degradation ERROR

8:00

Service Restored RESOLVED

How It Works

Step 1: Identify the Root Cause

Analyze database logs and identify the source of the connection surge.

Step 2: Isolate the Affected Systems

Prevent the surge from impacting other GitHub services.

Step 3: Implement a Temporary Fix

Scale up database resources or implement rate limiting.

Step 4: Deploy a Permanent Solution

Optimize the job dispatch queue to handle high connection loads.

EXPLORE MORE

Related Incidents

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When a Database Surge Crippled GitHub Actions