Vertical Scaling

What is Vertical Scaling?

Vertical scaling, also known as scaling up, refers to the process of increasing the capacity or capabilities of an individual hardware or software component within a system. You can add more power to your machine by adding better processors, increasing RAM, or other power-increasing adjustments.

Example - MySQL, Amazon RDS

Advantages of vertical scaling

• Increased capacity: Upgrading the hardware of a server can improve its performance and increase its capacity to handle incoming requests.

• Easier management: Vertical scaling typically involves upgrading a single node, which can be less complex than managing multiple nodes.

Disadvantages of vertical scaling:

• Limited scalability: Vertical scaling is limited by the physical constraints of the hardware, whereas horizontal scaling can be easily expanded by adding more nodes.

• Increased cost: Upgrading the hardware of a server can be more expensive than adding more nodes. Single point of failure: All incoming requests are still directed to a single server, which increases the risk of downtime if the server fails.