You can increase or decrease the resources and services used based on the demand or workload at any given time. Cloud computing supports both vertical and horizontal scaling depending on your needs.

Vertical scaling, also known as “scaling up”, is the process of adding resources to increase the power of an existing server. Some examples of vertical scaling are: adding more CPUs, or adding more memory.

Horizontal scaling, also known as “scaling out”, is the process of adding more servers that function together as one unit. For example, you have more than one server processing incoming requests.

As your workload changes due to a spike or drop in demand, a cloud computing system can compensate by automatically adding or removing resources.

For example, imagine your website is featured in a news article, leading to a spike in traffic overnight. Since the cloud is elastic, it automatically allocates more computing resources to handle the increased traffic. When the traffic begins to normalize, the cloud automatically de-allocates the additional resources to minimize cost.

When you use the cloud, you’re able to focus on what matters: building and deploying applications. Cloud usage eliminates the burdens of maintaining software patches, hardware setup, upgrades, and other IT management tasks. All of this is automatically done for you to ensure you’re using the latest and greatest tools to run your business.

Think about how you secure your datacenter. You have physical security – who can access the building, who can operate the server racks, and so on. You also have digital security – who can connect to your systems and data over the network.

Cloud providers offer a broad set of policies, technologies, controls, and expert technical skills that can provide better security than most organizations can otherwise achieve. The result is strengthened security, which helps to protect data, apps, and infrastructure from potential threats.