Category: Software, Database, Data, Infrastructure

Deciding between horizontal and vertical scaling is an important infrastructure consideration when building out applications because it determines how your application will increase its computing resources to handle growth. In simple terms, horizontal and vertical scaling are two strategies for adding computing resources to run your app as demand increases.

The term “vertical scaling” describes adding power to your existing machine; you have one server, and you add more RAM and CPU resources.

Before we get into the pros and cons of scaling horizontally vs vertically, note that horizontal scaling is by far the most common choice for fast-growth and enterprise applications.

The main pros of horizontal scaling are: The main cons of horizontal scaling are: The main pros of vertical scaling are: The main cons of vertical scaling are: In many cases, the question of whether to scale horizontally or vertically isn’t a black and white choice.

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