Economic Aspects of Auto Scaling
The Illusion of Cost Efficiency
It is generally assumed that auto-scaling leads to cost savings by optimizing the use of computing resources. However, the reality can be quite different. Implementing auto-scaling involves costs related to the development, testing, and maintenance of automation scripts and monitoring systems, which can increase the overall Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
Another risk is the cost of unintended scaling. Errors in code or external events, such as a DDoS attack, can lead to unexpected load increases. In such cases, the cloud automatically scales resources, which can result in significant overspending. These costs can be substantial because the system will scale the load you don't want, which can subsequently reflect in a high invoice amount. Fortunately, at vshosting, we can help manage these issues.
Comparison with On-Demand Infrastructure
For applications with stable performance demands, it may be more advantageous to use a constant allocation of resources on on-demand infrastructure. This approach provides predictable costs and eliminates the risk of inefficient scaling. Static infrastructure can be not only cheaper but also more reliable in these cases. Additionally, thanks to reserved instances and saving plans that can save up to 70% of costs, it may be cheaper to purchase and reserve higher performance than is usually needed.
Technical Requirements and Limitations
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Unexpected Demand Spikes
Auto-scaling is ideal for applications that can experience unexpected load spikes. Examples include e-commerce platforms during sales events, streaming services when popular content is released, or social networks during viral events. The key to success is the ability of the application to quickly respond to load changes. However, auto-scaling cannot respond instantaneously to rapid demand increases. The response time of auto-scaling is in the order of minutes, and it takes longer for a new instance to be created and brought online.
Application Architecture
For effective implementation of auto-scaling, it is essential for the application to be designed with horizontal scalability in mind. This includes proper load balancing, optimization of database operations, and the ability to quickly add or remove instances. Paradoxically, it cannot be said that modern application architecture universally supports auto-scaling. For example, monolithic applications written in PHP will scale horizontally much better (and practically without any intervention in the application) than a modern microservice written in Go. It is essential for the application to be stateless or to maintain state globally in some storage, and to be uniform for all instances.
Infrastructure Limitations
Traditional infrastructure, such as classic bare metal virtual servers, is not designed for dynamic scaling. Modern cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud provide tools and services that facilitate auto-scaling, but at the cost of unpredictable expenses. On these platforms, it is necessary to carefully set auto-scaling policies to avoid inefficient resource use. A fundamental premise of auto-scaling is also the use of dynamically configured load balancers that direct traffic to the application and support auto-discovery.
AWS and Costs
AWS is often mentioned as a leading provider of cloud computing services, but these services can be financially demanding. Clients should conduct a thorough cost analysis to avoid unforeseen expenses. We recommend using AWS Cost Explorer or other tools to monitor and optimize costs. With vshosting managing your AWS setup, you don't need to worry about frequent hundred-fold amounts on your AWS invoice, as we have a team of people who take care of your data and applications and optimise them 24/7.