In System Design, the concepts of scalability and elasticity often get mixed but hold distinct significance. Scalability refers to a system's ability to handle increasing workload by adding resources, while elasticity adds the dynamic nature of scaling resources up or down based on demand.
Scalability is the ability of the system to accommodate larger loads just by adding resources either making hardware stronger (scale up) or adding additional nodes (scale out). Elasticity is the ability to fit the resources needed to cope with loads dynamically usually in relation to scale out.
Scalability refers to the ability to expand resources (vertically or horizontally) to meet system requirements, which can also include reducing resources when necessary, but this process is typically manual. Elasticity, on the other hand, is inherently automated and dynamic, responding in real-time to workload changes.
Scalability is largely manual, planned, and predictive, while elasticity is automatic, prompt, and reactive to expected conditions and preconfigured rules. Both are essentially the same, except that they occur in different situations.
However, scalability and elasticity have distinct differences that organizations should be aware of when deciding which approach to take. This blog post will break down the differences between the two, provide examples of their use, and eventually discuss how to achieve both in cloud computing.
Elasticity and Scalability in Cloud Computing might seem similar but vary in their approaches. Here are some of the key factors that differentiate Elasticity and Scalability in Cloud Computing:
Elasticity refers to the ability of a system to dynamically adjust resources based on demand, allowing for flexibility and cost efficiency. Scalability, on the other hand, refers to the ability of a system to handle increasing workloads by adding resources without affecting performance.
Scalability focuses on the general behavior and average workload of a system, trying to predict demands in the medium-term future. Elasticity, in turn, works with the current workload of a system, executing several scaling processes to deal with, for example, punctual or unexpected events.
