Microsoft 365 FundamentalsDescribe cloud conceptsMedium
A small e-commerce company experiences significant traffic spikes during holiday sales events, requiring a substantial increase in computing resources for a short period. After the event, traffic returns to normal, and the extra resources are no longer needed. Which cloud benefit allows the company to efficiently handle these fluctuating demands without over-provisioning?
- APredictive Analytics
- BGeographic Distribution
- CHigh Availability
- DScalability
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Scalability
Scalability is the ability of a system to handle a growing amount of work by adding resources. In the cloud, this means easily adding or removing compute, storage, or network resources as demand dictates, specifically addressing fluctuating traffic.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Predictive analytics is a data analysis technique, not a direct cloud benefit related to resource provisioning.
- B. Geographic distribution places resources closer to users for lower latency, not for handling fluctuating resource needs.
- C. High availability ensures uptime, not the ability to adjust resources for demand.
Scalability
The ability of a system to handle increasing workloads by adding resources, either vertically (more power) or horizontally (more instances).
- Cloud computing offers both vertical and horizontal scalability.
- Allows systems to grow or shrink based on demand.
- Often paired with elasticity for automatic scaling.
Memory trick: Cloud services can grow or shrink like a balloon.