System Design Interview Topic: Vertical / Horizontal Scaling

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January 26, 2023

Distributed Systems  System Design Interview 

Vertical scaling (also known as “scaling up” or “scaling vertically”) is the process of increasing the capacity of a single server by adding more resources such as CPU, RAM, or storage. This is done by replacing the existing server with a more powerful one or by adding more components to the existing server.

Horizontal scaling (also known as “scaling out” or “scaling horizontally”) is the process of adding more servers to a system in order to increase capacity. This is done by adding additional servers to the existing system or by adding additional components to the existing servers.

Both vertical and horizontal scaling have their advantages and disadvantages. Vertical scaling is more cost-effective and can be done quickly, but it can be limited by the hardware resources available. Horizontal scaling is more flexible and can scale to meet demand, but it can be more expensive and time-consuming to set up.

*** Created by ChatGPT on Jan 26, 2023.