fix: reduce health-check probe pressure to stop readiness-flapping downtime

Three changes targeting the root cause of production up/down alerting:

1. Skip BruteForceProtection for /health and /health/live paths
   (removes unnecessary Repo.get_by(IpBlock) DB query from every
   k8s probe, matching the existing /socket/agent exemption).

2. Relax k8s readiness probe: periodSeconds 5→10, timeoutSeconds
   2→5, failureThreshold 2→3, successThreshold 3→2 so transient
   DB/Redis blips don't cascade into full service unavailability.

3. Use the persistent Towerops.Redix connection for health checks
   instead of opening a brand-new TCP connection (handshake→AUTH→
   PING→close) on every probe. Towerops.Redix.Fake gains a
   set_ping_response/2 toggle for testing failure paths.

CHANGELOG.txt

@@ -1,3 +1,21 @@
+2026-06-08
+fix: reduce health-check probe pressure to stop readiness-flapping downtime
+  Three changes to eliminate the root cause of production up/down alerting:
+  1. BruteForceProtection plug now skips /health and /health/live paths (like
+     /socket/agent already does), removing an unnecessary Repo.get_by(IpBlock)
+     query from every k8s readiness probe.
+  2. k8s readiness probe relaxed: periodSeconds 5→10, timeoutSeconds 2→5,
+     failureThreshold 2→3 to tolerate brief DB/Redis blips without marking the
+     pod unready; successThreshold 3→2 to recover faster after a blip clears.
+  3. RedisHealthCheck.check_health/2 now sends PING on the persistent
+     Towerops.Redix connection (started at boot) instead of opening a brand-new
+     TCP connection + AUTH + PING + close on every probe. Towerops.Redix.Fake
+     gained a set_ping_response/2 toggle so tests can drive the failure path
+     without dialing unreachable hosts.
+  Files: lib/towerops/redis_health_check.ex, lib/towerops/redix/fake.ex,
+    lib/towerops_web/plugs/brute_force_protection.ex, k8s/deployment.yaml,
+    test/towerops_web/controllers/health_controller_test.exs
+
 2026-05-20
 fix(oban): use Oban Pro DynamicLifeline in prod to stop unique_violation crash loop
   CheckExecutorWorker's `unique` constraint covers available/scheduled/retryable

k8s/deployment.yaml

@@ -293,10 +293,10 @@ spec:
               path: /health
               port: 4000
             initialDelaySeconds: 5
-            periodSeconds: 5
+            periodSeconds: 10     # Check every 10s instead of 5s (halves probe pressure)
-            timeoutSeconds: 2
+            timeoutSeconds: 5     # Give DB+Redis checks enough time to respond
-            successThreshold: 3 # Require 3 consecutive successes (15s) before marking ready
+            successThreshold: 2   # 2 consecutive successes (20s) before marking ready
-            failureThreshold: 2 # Allow 1 failure before marking not ready
+            failureThreshold: 3   # Allow 2 consecutive failures before marking not ready
           volumeMounts:
             - name: data
               mountPath: /data

lib/towerops/redis_health_check.ex

@@ -63,54 +63,28 @@ defmodule Towerops.RedisHealthCheck do
   end
 
   @doc """
-  Checks Redis health by attempting a PING command with a timeout.
+  Checks Redis health by sending a PING on the existing persistent connection.
+
+  Uses the named `Towerops.Redix` connection (started at boot by
+  `Towerops.Application`) instead of opening a brand-new TCP connection
+  on every probe. This avoids the TCP handshake + AUTH per probe and
+  cuts per-check work roughly in half.
 
   ## Parameters
-  - `redis_config` - Keyword list with Redis connection config (host, port, password)
+  - `redis_config` - Ignored; accepted for backward compat with callers.
-  - `timeout_ms` - Maximum time to wait for response in milliseconds
+  - `timeout_ms` - Maximum time to wait for the PONG response.
 
   ## Returns
   - `:ok` if Redis responds to PONG
-  - `{:error, reason}` if connection fails or times out
+  - `{:error, reason}` if the command fails or times out
   """
   @spec check_health(keyword(), pos_integer()) :: :ok | {:error, term()}
-  def check_health(redis_config, timeout_ms \\ 2_000) do
+  def check_health(_redis_config, timeout_ms \\ 2_000) do
-    host = Keyword.get(redis_config, :host, "localhost")
-    port = Keyword.get(redis_config, :port, 6379)
-    password = Keyword.get(redis_config, :password)
-
-    # Build connection options
-    conn_opts = [
-      host: host,
-      port: port,
-      timeout: timeout_ms,
-      socket_opts: [keepalive: true]
-    ]
-
-    conn_opts =
-      if password && password != "" do
-        Keyword.put(conn_opts, :password, password)
-      else
-        conn_opts
-      end
-
     redix = redix_module()
 
-    # Start a temporary connection for health check
+    case redix.command(Towerops.Redix, ["PING"], timeout: timeout_ms) do
-    case redix.start_link(conn_opts) do
+      {:ok, "PONG"} -> :ok
-      {:ok, conn} ->
+      {:error, reason} -> {:error, reason}
-        result =
-          case redix.command(conn, ["PING"], timeout: timeout_ms) do
-            {:ok, "PONG"} -> :ok
-            {:error, reason} -> {:error, reason}
-          end
-
-        redix.stop(conn)
-        result
-
-      {:error, reason} ->
-        Logger.debug("Redis health check connection failed: #{inspect(reason)}")
-        {:error, reason}
     end
   rescue
     error ->

lib/towerops/redix/fake.ex

@@ -52,9 +52,19 @@ defmodule Towerops.Redix.Fake do
     GenServer.call(conn, :reset)
   end
 
+  @doc """
+  Overrides the PING response for testing failure paths.
+
+  Pass `:error` to make PING return `{:error, %Redix.ConnectionError{...}}`.
+  Pass `:ok` (or anything else) to restore the default `{:ok, "PONG"}`.
+  """
+  def set_ping_response(conn \\ __MODULE__, response) do
+    GenServer.call(conn, {:set_ping_response, response})
+  end
+
   # ── GenServer ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
   @impl true
-  def init(_), do: {:ok, %{sets: %{}}}
+  def init(_), do: {:ok, %{sets: %{}, ping_override: nil}}
 
   @impl true
   def handle_call({:command, cmd}, _from, state) do
@@ -62,11 +72,26 @@ defmodule Towerops.Redix.Fake do
     {:reply, reply, state}
   end
 
-  def handle_call(:reset, _from, _state), do: {:reply, :ok, %{sets: %{}}}
+  def handle_call(:reset, _from, _state), do: {:reply, :ok, %{sets: %{}, ping_override: nil}}
+
+  def handle_call({:set_ping_response, response}, _from, state) do
+    {:reply, :ok, %{state | ping_override: response}}
+  end
 
   # ── Command dispatch ────────────────────────────────────────────────
-  defp run(["PING"], state), do: {{:ok, "PONG"}, state}
+  defp run(["PING"], state) do
-  defp run(["PING" | _], state), do: {{:ok, "PONG"}, state}
+    case state.ping_override do
+      :error -> {{:error, %Redix.ConnectionError{reason: :econnrefused}}, state}
+      _ -> {{:ok, "PONG"}, state}
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp run(["PING" | _], state) do
+    case state.ping_override do
+      :error -> {{:error, %Redix.ConnectionError{reason: :econnrefused}}, state}
+      _ -> {{:ok, "PONG"}, state}
+    end
+  end
 
   defp run(["SADD", key, value | rest], state) do
     set = Map.get(state.sets, key, MapSet.new())

lib/towerops_web/plugs/brute_force_protection.ex

@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ defmodule ToweropsWeb.Plugs.BruteForceProtection do
       String.starts_with?(conn.request_path, "/socket/agent") ->
         conn
 
+      # Skip for Kubernetes health probes — these run every 5s and don't
+      # need brute-force checking; a DB query here adds latency to readiness
+      # checks and contributes to probe failures during DB contention.
+      String.starts_with?(conn.request_path, "/health") ->
+        conn
+
       # Check if IP is whitelisted
       BruteForce.check_whitelist(ip_address) ->
         conn

priv/static/changelog.txt

@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2026-06-08 — Availability improvements
+* Reduced momentary unavailability during brief database or Redis slowdowns
+* Health monitoring overhead cut significantly, improving overall responsiveness
+
 2026-05-20 — Reliability improvements
 * The app now rides through brief database hiccups instead of restarting, reducing momentary unavailability
 * Background monitoring jobs recover cleanly after a restart instead of getting stuck

test/towerops/redis_health_check_test.exs

@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@ defmodule Towerops.RedisHealthCheckTest do
   import ExUnit.CaptureLog
 
   alias Towerops.RedisHealthCheck
+  alias Towerops.Redix.Fake
+
+  setup do
+    # Ensure the Fake is in its default (healthy) state before each test.
+    Fake.set_ping_response(Towerops.Redix, :ok)
+    :ok
+  end
 
   describe "wait_for_redis/2" do
     test "returns :ok when Redis is available" do
@@ -12,10 +19,13 @@ defmodule Towerops.RedisHealthCheckTest do
       assert :ok = RedisHealthCheck.wait_for_redis(redis_config, max_attempts: 2, backoff: 100)
     end
 
-    test "returns error after max attempts with unreachable Redis" do
+    test "returns error after max attempts when Redis is unreachable" do
-      redis_config = [host: "127.0.0.1", port: 9999]
+      redis_config = [host: "127.0.0.1", port: 6379]
+
+      # Make the Fake simulate connection errors so wait_for_redis exhausts
+      # its retries and returns {:error, :max_attempts_exceeded}.
+      Fake.set_ping_response(Towerops.Redix, :error)
 
-      # Suppress Redis connection warnings during test
       _logs =
         capture_log(fn ->
           assert {:error, :max_attempts_exceeded} =
@@ -28,11 +38,13 @@ defmodule Towerops.RedisHealthCheckTest do
     end
 
     test "retries with exponential backoff" do
-      redis_config = [host: "127.0.0.1", port: 9999]
+      redis_config = [host: "127.0.0.1", port: 6379]
+
+      # Simulate failure so the retry loop runs.
+      Fake.set_ping_response(Towerops.Redix, :error)
 
       start_time = System.monotonic_time(:millisecond)
 
-      # Suppress Redis connection warnings during test
       _logs =
         capture_log(fn ->
           RedisHealthCheck.wait_for_redis(redis_config,
@@ -48,8 +60,7 @@ defmodule Towerops.RedisHealthCheckTest do
       # With backoff of 10ms and 2 attempts, total wait should be at least:
       # attempt 1: fail + wait 10ms
       # attempt 2: fail
-      # Total: ~10ms + connection timeouts
+      # Total: ~10ms + processing time
-      # Just verify some time passed (exponential backoff is working)
       assert elapsed >= 10
     end
   end
@@ -61,20 +72,11 @@ defmodule Towerops.RedisHealthCheckTest do
       assert :ok = RedisHealthCheck.check_health(redis_config)
     end
 
-    test "returns error for unavailable Redis" do
+    test "returns error when Redis is unreachable" do
-      redis_config = [host: "127.0.0.1", port: 9999]
+      redis_config = [host: "127.0.0.1", port: 6379]
 
-      # Suppress Redis connection warnings during test
+      Fake.set_ping_response(Towerops.Redix, :error)
-      _logs =
-        capture_log(fn ->
-          assert {:error, _reason} = RedisHealthCheck.check_health(redis_config, 10)
-        end)
-    end
 
-    test "handles malformed Redis config" do
-      redis_config = [host: "not-a-valid-hostname-at-all-12345", port: 6379]
-
-      # Suppress Redis connection warnings during test
       _logs =
         capture_log(fn ->
           assert {:error, _reason} = RedisHealthCheck.check_health(redis_config, 10)
@@ -82,13 +84,13 @@ defmodule Towerops.RedisHealthCheckTest do
     end
 
     test "accepts custom timeout" do
-      redis_config = [host: "127.0.0.1", port: 9999]
+      redis_config = [host: "127.0.0.1", port: 6379]
+
+      Fake.set_ping_response(Towerops.Redix, :error)
 
-      # Suppress Redis connection warnings during test
       _logs =
         capture_log(fn ->
           result = RedisHealthCheck.check_health(redis_config, 10)
-          # Should return error (either immediate connection failure or timeout)
           assert match?({:error, _}, result)
         end)
     end
@@ -110,34 +112,44 @@ defmodule Towerops.RedisHealthCheckTest do
   end
 
   describe "check_health/2 with a password" do
-    test "passes the :password option through and fails auth" do
+    test "ignores password and succeeds when the persistent connection is healthy" do
-      # Bogus password against a Redis that doesn't require auth → AUTH error.
+      # The health check now uses the persistent Towerops.Redix connection,
-      # Either way the password keyword arm is exercised.
+      # which is already authenticated. The password in redis_config is ignored.
-      redis_config = [host: "127.0.0.1", port: 9999, password: "wrong"]
+      redis_config = [host: "127.0.0.1", port: 6379, password: "bogus"]
 
-      _logs =
+      assert :ok = RedisHealthCheck.check_health(redis_config, 10)
-        capture_log(fn ->
-          assert match?({:error, _}, RedisHealthCheck.check_health(redis_config, 10))
-        end)
     end
 
     test "ignores empty-string password" do
-      redis_config = [host: "127.0.0.1", port: 9999, password: ""]
+      redis_config = [host: "127.0.0.1", port: 6379, password: ""]
 
-      _logs =
+      assert :ok = RedisHealthCheck.check_health(redis_config, 10)
-        capture_log(fn ->
-          assert match?({:error, _}, RedisHealthCheck.check_health(redis_config, 10))
-        end)
     end
   end
 
   describe "wait_for_redis/2 — successful retry" do
     test "logs 'connection established' when first attempt fails but second succeeds" do
-      # Hard to deterministically simulate a transient failure; we just confirm
+      # Simulate one failure then recovery.
-      # the success path returns :ok when Redis is up. Together with the
+      Fake.set_ping_response(Towerops.Redix, :error)
-      # max-attempts test above this hits both branches around the attempt counter.
+
+      # Schedule recovery after a short delay — the first attempt will fail,
+      # then we restore the healthy state before the second attempt.
+      Task.async(fn ->
+        Process.sleep(5)
+        Fake.set_ping_response(Towerops.Redix, :ok)
+      end)
+
       redis_config = Application.get_env(:towerops, :redis, host: "localhost", port: 6379)
-      assert :ok = RedisHealthCheck.wait_for_redis(redis_config, max_attempts: 1)
+
+      _logs =
+        capture_log(fn ->
+          assert :ok =
+                   RedisHealthCheck.wait_for_redis(redis_config,
+                     max_attempts: 3,
+                     backoff: 5,
+                     timeout: 10
+                   )
+        end)
     end
   end
 end

test/towerops_web/controllers/health_controller_test.exs

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 defmodule ToweropsWeb.HealthControllerTest do
   use ToweropsWeb.ConnCase, async: false
 
+  alias Towerops.Redix.Fake
+
   describe "GET /health/live" do
     test "returns 200 with status ok", %{conn: conn} do
       conn = get(conn, "/health/live")
@@ -80,9 +82,12 @@ defmodule ToweropsWeb.HealthControllerTest do
 
     test "returns 503 when redis is configured but unreachable", %{conn: conn} do
       previous = Application.get_env(:towerops, :redis)
-      # Point at a closed port on a routable but unreachable address.
+      Application.put_env(:towerops, :redis, host: "localhost", port: 6379)
-      # 198.51.100.0/24 is TEST-NET-2 (RFC 5737) — guaranteed not routable on the public internet.
+
-      Application.put_env(:towerops, :redis, host: "198.51.100.1", port: 1, timeout: 50)
+      # Make the Fake return connection errors for PING so we exercise
+      # the Redis-down branch without trying to open a real socket.
+      # The Fake is registered as `Towerops.Redix`, not by its module name.
+      Fake.set_ping_response(Towerops.Redix, :error)
 
       try do
         conn = get(conn, "/health")
@@ -94,6 +99,8 @@ defmodule ToweropsWeb.HealthControllerTest do
         assert result["database"] == "connected"
         assert result["redis"] == "disconnected"
       after
+        Fake.set_ping_response(Towerops.Redix, :ok)
+
         if previous do
           Application.put_env(:towerops, :redis, previous)
         else