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Cloud Computing · Foundational

Vertical Scaling

Increasing or decreasing capacity by changing the size of an existing resource, such as more CPU or RAM; also called scaling up/down.

Definition

Vertical scaling replaces a resource with a larger or smaller one, for example resizing a VM or database instance class. It is simple and requires no application changes, but it has an upper limit, often needs a restart and keeps a single point of failure.

Example

Resizing an Azure VM from D2s_v5 to D8s_v5 to give a database more memory.

Exam tip

If the scenario says 'without code changes' and 'single server', vertical scaling fits; if it says 'no downtime' and 'add instances', choose horizontal.

Don't confuse it with

Related terms