Every business’s computing infrastructure needs are different. Some companies have highly predictable growth and consistent computing environments, while others have workloads that fluctuate depending on demand and the time of year. Thankfully, cloud computing gives companies more flexibility in how they set up their infrastructure as well as access to more resources than is possible when using on-premise equipment.
Your infrastructure setup should align with your business needs to get the most out of cloud computing. This alignment will help guide your infrastructure decisions, like choosing between scalable cloud and elastic cloud computing. We’ll look at what each of these cloud strategies entails and which situation corresponds best with your needs.
Cloud Computing Can Grow with Your Business
The main benefit of cloud computing is its flexibility. Businesses can pay for resources and scale up or scale out based on their needs. In other words, companies can add more performance or capacity. We refer to this as scalability and elasticity in cloud computing. What do cloud elasticity and scalability look like in practice?
Cloud elasticity is the cloud's ability to expand or compress resources based on shifts in workloads and demand. Like a rubber band, the system can quickly expand to meet demand and return to its normal state just as quickly. This agility is ideal for companies that experience sudden or cyclical changes.
Cloud elasticity is crucial during special events. For example, during Black Friday and Cyber Monday retailers experience sharp increases in traffic that their infrastructure can't handle using normal settings. Another use case is special sporting events like the Super Bowl that experience much more traffic than regular-season games.
Cloud scalability enables businesses to handle a growing workload with two important characteristics. The workload increases at a static pace and requires a predictable amount of computing power. Therefore, scalability is better for loads that require consistent performance as it will ensure that companies have stable access to resources.
Scalability is crucial for businesses that are growing organically and need to add resources to support employees, infrastructure, or applications. But, what if your computing needs are growing fast and aren’t always predictable? Then you need a cloud provider who can offer cloud elasticity and scalability — helping you keep up with growth requirements and unpredictable demand.
Edge Computing Is a Crucial Component of Scalability and Elasticity
Many businesses face a growing network and the need to maintain fast network speeds during expansion. This means they must position computing resources closer to users since server distance is the main limitation of latency. Edge computing allows companies to target high-traffic regions with edge nodes and edge PoPs to improve latency — enhancing user experience and allowing for more advanced applications.
We can help your team to deploy edge computing infrastructure and manage everything from hardware design and maintenance to the deployment of critical edge resources. If you want to learn more about how your edge and cloud resources can work together to lower latency and support growth,
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Jan 4, 2022
