Migrating from SkyWalking to DataBuff can be a direct Agent retarget, or a databuff-proxy dual-write: point Agents once at the proxy, fan out to OAP and DataBuff, then leave SkyWalking after validation. This post is the dual-write load & stability report; steps live in From SkyWalking to DataBuff.
Test environment & write demo
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Topology | Agent (145) → proxy (120) → SkyWalking OAP (114) + DataBuff Ingest (113) |
| Proxy | databuff-proxy · listen :11800 · workers=8 · queue_size=4096 |
| Write demo | Microservice call chain: 17 business services, 2 replicas each |
| Middleware | Redis, MySQL, MongoDB, Kafka, etc. — 9 total |
| Total pods | 43 pods · write load QPS=35 |
| Units | Process cores (not host-wide %) · span/s ≠ segment/s |
Proxy host
| Scenario | Cores | RSS | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sustained full load | ~0.86 | ~44 MB | Under 1 core |
| Overnight 10h+ | 0.89 | ~47 MB | Under 1 core · flat RSS |
Figures are process cores, not host-wide CPU %.
~6-hour monitoring screenshots
Process CPU · ~5% ≈ 0.8 cores on 16-core host · flat
Process RSS · ~47–60 MB · no growth
Host RX · steady traffic
Host TX · steady traffic
CPU/RSS from process detail; network from host120 (no process NIC metrics).
Abnormal scenarios
| Scenario | How | Behavior | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| One backend down | DataBuff port unavailable | Bad path circuits open; other path keeps writing; proxy stays up | OK |
| Disable one write path | Admin API toggle | That path stops; other unaffected; re-enable recovers | OK |
| Sustained high load | QPS=35 continuous | No drops / errors on either path | OK |
| Long run | 10h+ without stop | Still forwarding; RSS flat | OK |
| Restart after config | Restart proxy | Comes back and dual-writes again | OK |
Conclusion
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Resource stability (under 1 core · flat RSS) | Pass |
| Abnormal scenarios | Pass |
Ready for production dual-write. See docs for both migration options; write throughput: Write Performance Comparison.
GitHub: https://github.com/databufflabs/databuff-proxy · Docs: Proxy Dual-Write Stability · Migration: From SkyWalking