1.2.2 Benefits of High Availability and Scalability

Descriptions of the benefits of high availability and scalability.

High Availability

High availability focuses on ensuring maximum availability, regardless of disruptions or events. When building a solution, account for service availability guarantees. Azure provides guaranteed uptime depending on the service. These are part of SLAs.

Scalability

This is the ability to adjust resources to meet demand. If you are overwhelmed, the ability to scale means you can add more resources to handle the demand. The other benefit means you are not overpaying for services. If demand drops off, you can reduce your resources and therefore your costs. Scaling comes in two varieties: vertical and horizontal.

Vertical Scaling

This is where you vertically scale up, like to add more CPUs or RAM to a VM. Conversely, if you realized you had too much CPU or RAM, you could lower this which is vertically scaling down.

Horizontal Scaling

This is when you scale existing resources out to meet demand. For example, adding more VMs or containers. The same way, you could scale inwards, reducing the number of VMs or containers.