AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02)Cloud ConceptsHard
A media streaming service automatically adds additional server capacity during a viral video's peak traffic hours and automatically removes that capacity once traffic returns to normal, without any manual intervention. Which cloud characteristic is being demonstrated?
- AScalability
- BFault tolerance
- CHigh availability
- DElasticity
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Elasticity
Elasticity refers to the ability of a system to automatically acquire and release resources in near real-time in response to demand, growing and shrinking dynamically. Scalability, by contrast, describes the general ability to increase capacity but does not necessarily imply automatic, real-time shrinking.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Scalability is the broader ability to scale up, but doesn't specifically imply automatic real-time reduction of resources.
- B. Fault tolerance refers to a system's ability to continue operating despite component failures.
- C. High availability refers to minimizing downtime, not dynamic resource adjustment.
Elasticity vs Scalability
Elasticity is the automatic, real-time scaling of resources up and down based on demand; scalability is the broader capability of a system to handle increased load, often through manual or automatic means.
- Elasticity implies both scaling up AND down automatically
- Scalability can be manual or automatic, and often only refers to growth
- AWS Auto Scaling is a key service enabling elasticity
Memory trick: Elastic band stretches out and snaps back automatically.