Under Provisioning
Under provisioning is a resource allocation strategy in computing where systems are intentionally configured with fewer resources (e.g., CPU, memory, storage, or network bandwidth) than their peak or theoretical maximum demand. This approach is often used to optimize costs and improve efficiency by avoiding over-investment in infrastructure, but it carries the risk of performance degradation or service outages during high-demand periods. It is commonly contrasted with over provisioning and is a key consideration in capacity planning and cloud resource management.
Developers should understand under provisioning when working in cloud environments, DevOps, or system administration to balance cost savings against performance risks, especially in scalable applications or during budget constraints. It is particularly relevant for non-critical workloads, development/testing environments, or services with predictable low usage patterns, where occasional resource shortages are acceptable. Learning this concept helps in making informed decisions about resource allocation, monitoring, and auto-scaling configurations to prevent service disruptions.