Auto Scaling in Cloud Computing with AWS: Top 4 Advantages

Given that by 2020, majority of businesses already had their workloads in the public cloud, it would come as no surprise to note how much more crucial cloud computing has become for organizations the world over. But as the demand for cloud-based services increases, so also does the need for load balancing and auto-scaling features in order to optimize performance and accessibility within cloud applications. 

As such, one cannot talk about cloud optimization without referring to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and its role in bringing auto-scaling in cloud computing environments to the forefront. And if the research conducted by Stamford, a (Connecticut-based research platform) is anything to go by, the numbers gathered reveal that AWS owns about half of the entire public cloud infrastructure, amounting to a whopping 47.8%.

In that vein, this article will take you through what auto-scaling is all about and what benefits it holds in a cloud computing environment, especially with respect to Amazon Web Services. 

What Is AWS Auto-Scaling?

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With the aid of AWS auto-scaling, businesses that own applications in the cloud are able to monitor them while also ensuring that it automatically adjusts server capacity in order to maintain the performance of applications.

This way, applications will not only have stable, balanced, and predictable performance, but they can also achieve these changes at extremely reduced prices. 

Moreover, be it in decreasing or increasing the natural capacity of the Amazon Web Services software, auto-scaling through the platform is more than cost-effective for businesses. This is because AWS autoscaling ensures that all the scalable cloud-based services and resources within an organization’s applications will be monitored.  

How Does AWS Auto-Scaling Work?

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Through AWS’s cloud auto-scaling service, businesses are afforded an uncomplicated yet powerful user interface that allows companies to create scaling plans with the aid of several Amazon Web Services’ resources. 

The resources that are set up to use Amazon Web Services’ auto-scaling features include:

1. Amazon EC2 instances and Spot Fleets
2. Amazon DynamoDB tables and indexes
3. Amazon Aurora Replicas
4. Amazon ECS tasks

The service exists to make the scaling process a straightforward one coupled with suggestions in regards to the optimization of application performance, cutting costs, and finding a balance between the two. It is through AWS auto-scaling that cloud infrastructures are able to make use of resources of the right kind at a time when it is required. 

AWS Auto-Scaling Advantages and Disadvantages

Although AWS auto-scaling is touted as one of the best in the market, just like any other close-sourced software used in cloud management, it comes with its share of benefits and disadvantages. Let’s look at them now. 

Advantages:

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Scaling is swift and unified - With AWS, auto-scaling is consolidated and unified for all the scalable resources that power a business’s application or cloud infrastructure. AWS’s features include the ability to view what the average utilization for every scalable resource looks like and promptly determine the target utilization levels you want to set for every group of resources from a unique, intuitive interface. 

Easily predictable scaling - Because AWS auto-scaling measures both the least as well as the highest limits between which a cloud environment’s resources will scale, it is predictable in nature. At any point in time, businesses can promptly ascertain the least possible performance and greatest cost of the cloud environment. 

Make informed scaling decisions - With the aid of AWS auto-scaling, your company can automate how groups belonging to different resources react to an increase or decrease in demand. As previously mentioned, the auto-scaling strategy with AWS is simple enough to grasp; businesses can choose to optimize a number of things which include:

1. Availability
2. Costs
3. Finding a balance between availability and cost.

As such, AWS auto-scaling lets companies set preferences and consequently fixes targets while also ensuring that it establishes scaling policies automatically as per a company’s choice. 

Keep up application performance automatically - It’s the greatest advantage yet because, with Amazon Web Services’ autoscaling features, businesses can regularly and continuously keep an eye on all the resources that their application needs. 

This is to ensure that all operational resources are at a company’s desired performance levels. As soon as server requests hike up, AWS auto-scaling will automatically boost the capacity levels of previously constrained resources. This action allows businesses to maintain and even better the quality of service they provide to customers and clients. 

Disadvantages

Although it is a unanimously agreed upon detail that AWS auto-scaling comes with very few disadvantages, businesses would do well to know what these cons are. As such, let’s get a brief glance at them now. 

Integration and synchronization, especially in terms of making regular code changes, may prove to be difficult tasks. The initial setting up of AWS auto-scaling may become too complicated, and engineers would have to go through prior training in order to familiarize themselves with the software. 

Wrapping Up

Before businesses decide to invest in AWS and its auto-scaling features, you can benefit from understanding its workings, what sort of investments you would need to make in terms of equipping engineers with the knowledge and skills required, as well as investment costs.