Cron and resource limits.
THE PATTERN
Resource spikes at regular intervals.
Slowness at predictable times.
HOW TO CONFIRM
Compare the spike times against your cron schedule.
If they align, that is the cause.
WHAT IS USUALLY HEAVY
Backups Imports and exports Bulk processing Anything touching every record
WHAT TO DO
Move heavy jobs to a quiet period Reduce frequency Process in smaller batches Stagger multiple jobs
FOR A LOCAL AUDIENCE
Overnight local time, not overnight elsewhere.
Check the server timezone.
THE OVERLAPPING RUN PROBLEM
A job taking longer than its interval starts again before finishing.
Two or three running together exhausts resources.
Lengthen the interval, or add a lock.
WHAT TO CHECK
Whether each job finishes comfortably within its interval.
