Vertical Scaling
Vertical scaling, also known as scaling up, is a method of increasing the capacity of a single server or computing resource by adding more power, such as CPU, RAM, or storage. It involves upgrading the hardware components of an existing system to handle increased load or performance demands. This approach contrasts with horizontal scaling, which adds more machines to distribute the workload.
Developers should consider vertical scaling when dealing with applications that have monolithic architectures, stateful services, or workloads that cannot be easily distributed across multiple nodes. It is particularly useful for small to medium-sized deployments, legacy systems, or scenarios where simplicity and minimal operational overhead are priorities, as it avoids the complexity of managing a distributed system.