The Vanishing RAM
A Node.js server is eating all available RAM. Can you find the leak?
The Scenario
StreamFlow's API server has a slow memory leak that causes it to crash every 8-12 hours. The ops team has been restarting it manually, but it's getting worse. Heap snapshots show growing object counts, but the source of the leak isn't obvious. Your job is to trace it to the root cause and deploy a fix.
What You'll Learn
How to read Node.js heap snapshots and memory profiles
Identifying common memory leak patterns (closures, event listeners, caches)
Using process.memoryUsage() and heap dumps for diagnosis
Implementing proper cleanup patterns to prevent leaks
Tools You'll Use
Real-World Context
Memory leaks are notoriously hard to diagnose in production. Netflix, LinkedIn, and PayPal have all published post-mortems about Node.js memory leaks that took down production services.
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