Every database works perfectly — until users show up. That’s usually the moment when “it handled my local test” stops being a convincing performance strategy. So instead of waiting for production to reveal our optimism was misplaced, we’ll proactively apply some scientifically measured chaos. In this post, we’ll use k6 and sysbench to stress the system on purpose, watch what breaks (calmly), and collect real numbers so our confidence is based on data — not vibes.