The "What If Volume Doubles?" Question

What They're Really Testing The Unlock Every pipeline has a throughput chain: source rate, ingestion layer, processing layer, sink write speed. The slowest link determines system throughput. Scaling the wrong link wastes money and changes nothing. The first job is to find the binding constraint, not to throw hardware at the problem. The 60-Second Framework Step 1 is the strong-hire signal. Converting 'a lot of data' into events/second shows you think quantitatively. Most candidates never do this math. The interviewer is waiting for you to compute the actual throughput requirement.