Cloud scalability came as a boon to enterprises who were constantly worried about data storage and protection resources and costs. Read more.
Cloud scalability came as a boon to enterprises and organizations who were constantly worried about data storage and protection resources and costs. Before the cloud, data storage and management required a lot of investments and infrastructure from companies. It is to such a scenario that cloud solutions came in with the signature advantages of cost efficiency and easy scalability.
Storage via cloud solution was particularly favorable to and welcomed by smaller companies in a growth phase. Cloud became an accommodating solution to such companies with growing pools of data. Compared to its humble beginnings, cloud has now become a haven for where most operations of many companies happen.
But, what exactly is meant by cloud scalability? What are the benefits of it? What are the different types you can scale cloud environments? Let us examine.
What is Cloud Scalability?
Cloud scalability is one of the most prominent features of cloud computing. A scalable cloud can grow and manage the increasing demands of processing, networking, infrastructure, and software from the industry.
In other words, in a cloud-based environment, you can scale your data requirements up or down according to the variations in your business. It is one of the best experiences of flexibility in resource management and cost efficiency out there.
In case there is a short demand for you to have more servers and storage spaces to tackle a larger workload, a scalable cloud allows you to add nodes easily and make it possible. You don't need to overhaul your IT infrastructure to achieve the goal. Once the work is done, you can move back to the original configuration with the same ease. You will only pay the cloud provider for your specific difference from regular usage.
To understand the various cloud scaling levels, you need to know the different types of scaling availabilities.
Three Different Types of Scalability
There are three different types of cloud scalability - vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. Simple enough to remember, right? Now let's examine what each of these mean.
Vertical scaling . Also known as scaling up/down. In this scalability mode, you can add resources to your existing operations to manage an increasing workload. There is no need to alter the code; it's just resizing the capabilities by moving to bigger VMs or adding expansion units. A notable flow with this type of scaling is that since your computing capacity doesn't increase according to the size, there could be a reduction in performance.
Horizontal scaling . Horizontal scaling has the advantage of increased performance along with storage and management capabilities. Another term for horizontal scaling is scaling out/in. Horizontal scaling works by adding nodes to the regular infrastructure. The increase in nodes manages the increased workload volume, and latency is thereby reduced.
Diagonal scaling . This mode of scaling can be seen as a combination of vertical and horizontal scaling. With diagonal scaling, you get the flexibility of adding more resources according to the needs in specific time instances. When the traffic goes up, the requirements are met; when traffic decreases, the configuration goes back to normal.
We now know what cloud scalability is and what the major types are. Some of the benefits have been mentioned above, but let's still look at the major ones more systematically.
Major Benefits of Cloud Scaling
Fast and Easy . Within a few clicks, you can commission extra VMs to deal with the increasing workload. There is no delay in services as well.
Cost Efficiency . Scaling up/down or in/out or diagonally is highly cost-efficient than setting up an infrastructure that remains unused most of the time.
Better Performance . A scalable architecture can deal with sudden increase or decrease in traffic and perform accordingly. There is no wasted resource or lag due to insufficient infrastructure.
Capacity . When your business requirements grow, the capacity grows as well. A scalable cloud is, by design, capable of taking care of your growth and data requirements.
Cloud Scalability with VEXXHOST
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Take advantage of our limited-time deal just to set up a one-time, OpenStack-based private cloud deployment - at 50% off! The cloud will be running on the latest OpenStack release, Wallaby, which allows you to run Kubernetes and VMs in the same environment and deploy in your data centers with your hardware. Furthermore, all these will be deployed and tested in under a month!
What are you waiting for? Learn more!
