Horizontal Scaling
Horizontal scaling, also known as scaling out, is a method of increasing system capacity by adding more machines or nodes to a distributed system, rather than upgrading the hardware of existing machines. It involves distributing workloads across multiple servers or instances to handle increased demand, improve performance, and enhance fault tolerance. This approach is commonly used in cloud computing and microservices architectures to achieve elasticity and high availability.
Developers should learn and use horizontal scaling when building applications that require high scalability, such as web services, APIs, or data-intensive systems, to handle traffic spikes or growing user bases efficiently. It is particularly valuable in cloud environments where resources can be provisioned on-demand, enabling cost-effective scaling without downtime. Use cases include e-commerce platforms during sales events, social media apps with variable loads, and real-time data processing systems.