# Disk IOPS Burst Credit Depletion Playbook > Depth-first rabbithole dossier for Disk IOPS Burst Credit Depletion Playbook; source-anchored research pack. Parent: [Atlas Triage Workflows](https://llms-explorer.com/tree/atlas-triage-workflows/) · 5 facets · 31 facts · page: https://llms-explorer.com/tree/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook/ ## How it works - [low] When I/O demand drops to baseline or lower, gp2 volumes earn I/O credits at 3 credits per GiB per second, and each volume starts with an initial balance of 5.4 million credits. Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/general-purpose.html — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] The I/O credit balance for a volume can be monitored using the Amazon EBS BurstBalance metric in CloudWatch, and alarms can be set to notify when the value falls to a certain level. Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/general-purpose.html — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#tools` - [low] Monitor CPU steal on AWS EC2 clusters with Burstable Performance to identify when CPU usage exceeds the guaranteed baseline due to shared cores, with high steal percentages indicating depleted CPU credit balance. Sources: https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/architecture/current/monitoring-alerts.md — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#troubleshooting` ## Measurements and reference values - [low] The default OS disk for premium enabled VMs is the P4 disk with up to 120 IOPS and 25 MB/s, which can burst to 3,500 IOPS and 170 MB/s with bursting, accelerating startup by up to 6x. Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] A 1-TiB P30 disk has a provisioned 5,000 IOPS, and with disk bursting enabled, workloads can send I/O operations up to a maximum burst performance of 30,000 IOPS and 1,000 MB/s. Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] gp3 volumes do not use burst performance, can indefinitely sustain full provisioned IOPS and throughput, and provide single-digit millisecond latency with 99.8% to 99.9% durability and an AFR no higher than 0.2%. Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/general-purpose.html — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` ## Problems, failure modes and limitations - [low] gp2 volumes smaller than 1 TiB and provisioned with less than 3,000 IOPS can burst to 3,000 IOPS, with an I/O credit accrual limit of 5.4 million credits sufficient to sustain maximum burst performance for at least 30 minutes. Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/general-purpose.html — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] On-demand bursting cannot be enabled on Premium SSDs 512 GiB or smaller, can only be enabled when the disk is detached or the VM is stopped, can be disabled 12 hours after enabling, and does not automatically disable when the performance tier changes. Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#troubleshooting` ## Comparisons and alternatives - [low] Users have experienced single small document inserts taking up to 7-15 seconds on 128Gb (500 IOPS) Azure disks and 100-200x longer operations (e.g., 1600+ ms instead of 6-8ms) even after upgrading to 256Gb / 1100 IOPS. Sources: https://dev.to/deyanp/mongodb-atlas-azure-a-forced-marriage-169m — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#troubleshooting` - [low] Azure IOPS were increased from 120 to 1280 after MongoDB Atlas implemented Azure Premium SSD v2 in Q4 2024, though Azure provides only 1280 IOPS for starters compared to 2000+ IOPS on AWS and GCP. (verified as of 2026-10-15) Sources: https://dev.to/deyanp/mongodb-atlas-azure-a-forced-marriage-169m — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#troubleshooting` ## Facts and statements - [low] Disk bursting is enabled by default on all new and existing deployments of supported disk sizes, allowing bursts for up to 30 minutes at the maximum burst rate, with credits restocking in less than a day after depletion. Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] While bursting, gp2 volumes do not accumulate I/O credits and spend them at a rate equal to the difference between burst IOPS and baseline IOPS. Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/general-purpose.html — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] Clusters with at least 1 TB of storage, such as M140 and larger tiers, have baseline IOPS equal to or greater than maximum burst performance and do not deplete burst credit balances. Sources: https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/reference/alert-resolutions/disk-io-utilization.md — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#troubleshooting` - [low] Atlas clusters on Azure may use credit-based bursting if burst credits are accumulated, or an on-demand bursting model where the disk bursts whenever needs exceed current capacity. Sources: https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/reference/alert-resolutions/disk-io-utilization.md — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#troubleshooting` - [low] An idling P1 disk accrues 120 IOPS per second, while an idling P20 disk accrues 2,300 IOPS per second. Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] Azure disk bursting costs include an hourly burst enablement flat fee that varies by region and applies regardless of attachment state until disabled, plus variable pay-as-you-go charges for uncached read and write I/O transactions exceeding provisioned targets. Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] Alert conditions 'Disk read IOPS on Data Partition is' and 'Disk write IOPS on Data Partition is' are raised if average disk read or write operations per second exceed the threshold. Sources: https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/reference/alert-resolutions/disk-io-utilization.md — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#troubleshooting` - [low] On Atlas Core clusters, if the primary node runs critically low on free disk space, Atlas blocks write operations (including deletes) on the replica set while continuing to serve reads; on sharded clusters, only writes routed to the affected shard are blocked. Sources: https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/intelligent-workload-management.md — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] Instance sizes M10 to M40 have a disk capacity to system memory ratio of 60:1, while sizes greater than M40 have a ratio of 120:1, with disk capacity limits on single replica sets scaling up to 4 TB for higher tiers. Sources: https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/customize-storage.md — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] gp2 volumes 33.33 GiB and smaller are provisioned with 100 IOPS, volumes larger than 33.33 GiB are provisioned with 3 IOPS per GiB up to 16,000 IOPS at 5,334 GiB, and volumes 5,334 GiB and larger are provisioned with 16,000 IOPS. Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/general-purpose.html — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] gp2 volumes 170 GiB and smaller deliver a maximum throughput of 128 MiB/s, volumes larger than 170 GiB but smaller than 334 GiB can burst to 250 MiB/s, and volumes 334 GiB and larger deliver 250 MiB/s. Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/general-purpose.html — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] gp3 volumes deliver a consistent baseline of 3,000 IOPS and 125 MiB/s throughput included in the price, with additional IOPS up to 80,000 and throughput up to 2,000 MiB/s available for an additional cost. Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/general-purpose.html — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] On Outposts, gp3 volumes support sizes up to 16 TiB, IOPS up to 16,000, and throughput up to 1,000 MiB/s, while generally gp3 volumes range from 1 GiB to 64 TiB. Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/general-purpose.html — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] On-demand bursting is only available for Premium SSD managed disks larger than 512 GiB, while credit-based bursting is available for Premium SSDs 512 GiB and smaller and Standard SSDs 1,024 GiB and smaller. Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] For Premium SSD managed disks, credit-based bursting is available for disk sizes P20 and smaller, and for Standard SSDs, it is available for disk sizes E30 and smaller. Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] VM-level bursting only uses the credit-based model, which operates on a best-effort basis and is not guaranteed, though the burst bucket does not need to be full for resources to burst. Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] Higher baseline performance resources accrue bursting credits faster than lower baseline performing resources. Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#core` - [low] Provisioned IOPS is supported only for M30+ tier AWS clusters. Sources: https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/reference/alert-resolutions/disk-io-utilization.md — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#troubleshooting` - [low] The IOPS threshold increases with storage capacity, and larger cluster tiers include higher IOPS thresholds. Sources: https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/reference/alert-resolutions/disk-io-utilization.md — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#troubleshooting` - [low] If a Premium SSD with on-demand bursting enabled is switched to another disk type, disk bursting is disabled. Sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#troubleshooting` - Fact 117 states all Azure Premium SSDs support bursting up to 3500 IOPS for up to 30 minutes, while Fact 90 states on-demand bursting is only available for Premium SSDs larger than 512 GiB and Fact 96 states credit-based bursting is available for P20 and smaller. Sources: https://dev.to/deyanp/mongodb-atlas-azure-a-forced-marriage-169m, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting — source: `~/.global-ai-hub/research/.pipeline/mongodb-2026-10-14/frb/disk-iops-burst-credit-depletion-playbook-a0481c45c4/rabbithole-synthesis.md#disagreements` ## Related concepts - IOPS — is a part of Disk IOPS Burst Credit Depletion Playbook - Disk — is a part of Disk IOPS Burst Credit Depletion Playbook - Burst — is a part of Disk IOPS Burst Credit Depletion Playbook - Credit — is a part of Disk IOPS Burst Credit Depletion Playbook - Depletion — is a part of Disk IOPS Burst Credit Depletion Playbook