When it comes to cloud computing, the cost is always a factor. But how much do you really know about it? When you're able to see the costs of your cloud services upfront, it can become difficult to anticipate how much they are going to cost. This is where elasticity comes into play. Elasticity in cloud computing refers to the ability of a service to scale up or down in response to demand and usage. What this means is that cloud services need to be able to expand and contract automatically based on your changing needs. This allows you, as a user of the service, to only pay for what you are using at any given time, as well as giving you the option of scaling up or down depending on your needs. Let’s take a look at what elasticity means in cloud computing and how it can affect your business processes.
What does Elasticity mean in Cloud Computing?
Elasticity refers to the ability of a service to automatically scale up or down in response to demand. Elastic clouds are designed to automatically scale up or down to meet fluctuating demand for computing resources, without any manual intervention. This allows the cloud provider to scale up the amount of resources available when demand increases and then scale down as demand decreases, all without any effort from the cloud user. Elasticity allows cloud users to take advantage of the benefits of cloud computing without having to worry about excessive costs, such as unexpected fluctuations in demand for computing resources or sudden spikes in traffic.
Cloud Computing and Elasticity
Cloud computing is a type of internet-based computing that enables the use of virtual computer systems and resources. Cloud computing providers offer users the ability to store and process data, as well as access their systems from anywhere. Cloud computing is used in many industries including telecommunications, healthcare, retail, and more. Cloud computing providers have to have a way to be able to scale up and down as needed in order to meet the needs of their customers. This is where elasticity comes into play. When a cloud provider offers elasticity, it means that they have the ability to increase or decrease their resources as necessary and without any additional effort from the user.
Why is Elasticity important to Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is all about using resources when you need them and then releasing them when you don’t. When you are using a cloud service provider, you are renting the resources you need rather than purchasing them so you need to have the ability to turn them on and off as needed. This is where elasticity comes into play. If you are not able to scale up and down as needed, you are likely to end up spending more than necessary on your cloud services. Elasticity is especially important for organizations that have a fluctuating demand for computing resources. For example, a company that hosts a video conference every week has a predictable and relatively constant demand for computing resources. But a company that hosts online webinars every day may have very unpredictable demand for computing resources. Elasticity allows cloud users to take advantage of the benefits of cloud computing without having to worry about excessive costs, such as unexpected fluctuations in demand for computing resources.
How does Cloud Elasticity work?
While there are many different types of elastic cloud infrastructures, the basics behind their functionality are similar. Before we get into the specifics of cloud elasticity, it’s important to note that it’s not just a couple of servers that need to scale up and down. It’s the entire infrastructure. That being said, the majority of elastic cloud providers have a load balancer that balances the incoming traffic to the network. If there is too much traffic, the load balancer reassigns it to another machine. The machines in the network have software installed that monitors usage and available resources. When there is a spike in CPU or memory usage, the software determines if the increase in demand can be handled by the current machines in the network. If not, the software will automatically start adding new machines to the network.
The limits of Elasticity in the Cloud
The cloud provider’s ability to scale up and down in response to demand is important to keep your costs down. But it’s also important to know what the limitations are so that you can avoid overutilizing the cloud and paying for more than you need. There are a few factors to keep in mind when it comes to the limitations of cloud elasticity. First, cloud providers often have service-level agreements (SLAs) that state how quickly they will respond to a spike in traffic or a request to scale up or down. If a spike in traffic is expected, such as a big marketing campaign, you can also contact your provider to let them know and they will be prepared to scale up accordingly. Another consideration when it comes to the limitations of cloud elasticity is that sometimes a cloud provider will have a maximum number of machines they are willing to add to the network at any one time. This can result in a spike in response time and might not be ideal for critical applications.
Elasticity and Cloud Storage
Cloud storage is one of the most popular uses of cloud computing. It can be useful to know how elasticity can affect cloud storage services. If you are using a cloud storage service like Amazon S3, you have the option of storing data in either standard or reduced redundancy storage. Standard redundancy storage means that data is backed up to multiple data centers across the globe so that it is highly available. Reduced redundancy storage means that data is only backed up in a single data center. The reduced redundancy option is cheaper and provides a lower availability rate. This means that the amount of data that is stored in a single data center is reduced and the likelihood of an outage at that data center is higher. When it comes to cloud storage and elasticity, you should be aware that cloud providers will not automatically scale up or down your storage. It is up to you to determine how much storage you need and at what price point. If you are storing data in reduced redundancy storage, it is especially important that you have calculated your needs properly and have not overestimated them. If a spike in traffic leads to your storage being used up, there is a good chance that your data will be lost because of the reduced redundancy.
Elasticity and Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting is another popular use of cloud computing. Cloud hosting providers offer virtual server hosting where you can request an instance type, amount of RAM, and storage. These resources can be scaled up or down as necessary, along with the billing for them. This allows you to only pay for what you need at a given time and ensures that you are not paying for resources you are not using. Cloud hosting and elasticity work hand in hand to make sure that you are only paying for what you are using and nothing more. Before choosing a cloud hosting provider, make sure that the provider offers elastic scalability so that you can scale up or down as necessary without needing to shut down your server.
Cloud Computing and Cost Predictability
Cloud computing is all about being nimble and being able to quickly scale up or down as needed. When it comes to cost predictability, cost is not the only factor to keep in mind. Other aspects should also be considered. For example, if you use a cloud provider that has a SLA, it is important to know how quickly they will respond to a spike in traffic and if they will be able to meet the SLA. You should also check if the provider keeps logs of your traffic and if they can be used as evidence in the case of a regulatory compliance issue. Even though cloud computing is designed to provide a lot of benefits, it can be challenging to know how much it is going to cost. This is especially true if you are new to the cloud and not sure how to properly calculate the amount of resources you need. In these cases, it can be helpful to work with a managed services provider that can help you determine the right amount of resources and the right price point.
Conclusion
So far we have looked at how elasticity is implemented in cloud providers, but that still doesn’t answer the question of why is it important? Well the answer to that is pretty simple: it saves money. While it can be expensive to purchase the resources you need to run a business, it can also be expensive to pay for unexpected fluctuations in demand or spikes in traffic. That’s where elasticity comes in. Cloud providers have a duty to make sure that they have enough resources to serve their customers. They must be able to scale up and down as necessary to meet demand. With that said, it is important to note that there are also limits to how far operators will go when it comes to scaling up their cloud infrastructure. While it’s possible to scale up and down as needs dictate, there is a limit to how far operators will go when it comes to scaling up their cloud infrastructure.
