Whether it’s gaining access to your energy supplier’s website to submit a meter reading, or trying to get Glastonbury tickets, we’ve all seen systems go down when put under pressure. Often, this downtime is due to IT teams failing to pre-empt the need to scale up resources ahead of a high-traffic event. Show
Pre-cloud, storing growing pools of data required huge investments and labour-intensive management, but the global adoption of cloud hosting has revolutionised the data industry as we know it. Alongside cost-effectiveness and flexibility, one of the major benefits of choosing the cloud over on-premise architecture is the ability to scale easily and quickly. But what does scalability actually mean in cloud computing? What is cloud scalability?Cloud scalability refers to the ability to increase or decrease IT resources as needed to meet changing demands. For example, a ticketing website may have low traffic all year round, but experience high traffic on the day tickets for a festival are released. Scalability is the key element of the cloud that ensures the infrastructure can handle the traffic and resume a normal service without crashing or becoming slow. Processing power, data storage capacity and networking can all be scaled up or down quickly and easily using existing cloud computing infrastructure, typically with little to no downtime or disruption. How do you achieve cloud scalability?Scalable cloud infrastructure is made possible through virtualisation. Unlike physical machines where the resources are relatively fixed, virtual machines (VMs) are highly flexible and can be easily scaled up or down, moved to a different server or hosted on multiple servers at once. Compared to on-premises infrastructure, where the process can take weeks or months and requires huge expense, cloud providers have all the infrastructure already in place to allow for rapid scaling. Scalability vs elasticityWhile these two terms may sound synonymous with one another, cloud scalability and elasticity are not the same. Scalability, as previously described, refers to the ability to increase workload with existing hardware resources. On the other hand, an elastic solution can grow or shrink automatically and dynamically in response to changing workload demands, such as a sudden spike in web traffic. A business that experiences variable and unpredictable workloads might seek an elastic solution for short-term bursts in the public cloud, whereas cloud scalability is strategically planned for long-term growth. Types of scaling in cloud computingThere are two basic types of scalability in cloud computing: vertical and horizontal scaling. Vertical scaling This is generally thought of as the “easier” scaling method and is often referred to as “scaling up” or “scaling down” when you have fluctuating workloads. Usually, there is an upper limit associated with this type of scaling based on the capacity of the server being scaled; scaling beyond that tends to require some downtime. You can add or subtract power to an existing cloud server (with no change in your code) by:
Horizontal scaling Scaling horizontally is a more complex option and is typically referred to as “scaling in or out”. With this method, you can add more servers to your system to spread the load across multiple machines, which in turn increases performance and storage capacity. Growing organisations that require high availability, optimal performance and high-capacity memory and storage – all with minimal downtime – are well suited to using horizontal scaling. With horizontal scaling, businesses can grow infinitely, as there are no limitations. With such benefits, however, also comes more complexity compared to vertical scaling as additional servers are involved. Multiple servers require more general admin tasks such as security, monitoring and updates, so opting for a third-party cloud provider may be preferable in this case to offset such tasks. Benefits of cloud scalability
Looking for a scalable cloud solution for your business? Get in touch with our cloud experts today on 0800 612 2524 or email today. Which is better horizontal or vertical scaling?Horizontal scaling is almost always more desirable than vertical scaling because you don't get caught in a resource deficit.
Which type of scaling gives you the ability to add more servers?Vertical scaling can essentially resize your server with no change to your code. It is the ability to increase the capacity of existing hardware or software by adding resources.
Which type of scaling involves adding or removing resources to meet demand?Horizontal scaling, also called scaling out and in, means adding or removing instances of a resource.
Does vertical scaling add more servers?Vertical scaling gives you the ability to zoom in to add more servers to your network, but it also requires you to zoom out by adding a bit more power, CPU, and RAM to the existing infrastructure.
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