Scaling down: How we shrank image transfers by 93%

The Memory team at GitLab developed an on-the-fly image scaling solution integrated into Workhorse, significantly reducing data served to clients and addressing performance issues related to large image sizes. Previously, images were delivered in their original sizes, leading to high latency and increased egress traffic costs. The team initially considered static scaling and using external services like imgproxy but opted to build the scaling functionality within Workhorse to maintain a unified application experience. A fork-on-request approach using GraphicsMagick was chosen for dynamic scaling, but due to security concerns, the team ultimately wrote a secure scaler binary in Golang. This solution achieved a 93% reduction in image transfer size, translating to cost savings and performance improvements, though it faced challenges in balancing speed and security. Future enhancements include improved metrics, caching, and support for additional image formats.

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