Scalability vs elasticity in the cloud
WHAT IT TESTS: a precise distinction often blurred. OUTLINE: scalability is the ability to handle more load by adding capacity; elasticity is automatically adding AND removing capacity in real time to match demand.
WHAT IT TESTS: whether you can crisply separate two terms people use interchangeably. ANSWER OUTLINE: scalability is the system's ability to handle growing load by adding resources, often a deliberate, sometimes manual capacity increase. Elasticity is the automatic, dynamic provisioning and de-provisioning of resources in real time to match fluctuating demand, scaling out under spikes and back in when they pass to save cost. The example must show automatic scale-down, not just growth.
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- #scalability
- #elasticity
- #auto-scaling
- #cloud-architecture
- #cost-optimization
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