What is Scalability?

Scalability is the ability of a system architecture or software to handle increasing loads. There are two main types of scalability - vertical and horizontal. Vertical scalability means that you can increase the performance of a system by increasing the resources that the system has access to, for example more processor cores, more RAM or a faster disk. Horizontal scalability means that you can increase the performance of a system by adding more instances of the system. An important aspect of scalability is that the system should be able to handle increasing loads without losing performance. There are different ways to measure scalability, for example by measuring how quickly the system can handle increasing loads or by measuring how much load the system can handle before breaking down. Scalability is an important feature for many systems, especially for systems that are exposed to high loads, such as websites or services that are used by many people at the same time.Läs mer