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Cloud Computing · Foundational

Scalability

Ability of a system to handle increased load by adding resources, either vertically or horizontally.

Definition

Scalability describes how well a system's capacity can grow to meet increased demand while maintaining performance. Systems scale vertically by using bigger resources or horizontally by adding more nodes; horizontally scalable designs require stateless components and load balancing.

Example

A database is moved to an instance with twice the vCPUs, and the web tier is expanded from 3 to 6 servers.

Exam tip

Azure Fundamentals frames scalability as handling increased load and elasticity as automatic scaling; read the question wording carefully.

Don't confuse it with

Related terms