CompTIA Cloud+ Practice Test

Which scaling solution is ideal for accommodating peak utilization workloads in a public cloud?

1. Cloud bursting

2. Load balancing

3. Horizontal scaling

4. Vertical scaling

The correct answer is: Cloud bursting

Cloud bursting is a scaling solution that is particularly suited for accommodating peak utilization workloads in a public cloud environment. This approach allows a company to manage its on-premises resources while leveraging the public cloud for additional capacity during high-demand periods. When internal resources reach their maximum capacity, workloads can "burst" into the cloud, providing the necessary extra power and storage without the need to invest in permanent infrastructure changes. The primary advantage of cloud bursting is its flexibility; organizations can scale up seamlessly based on real-time demand patterns. This solution is extremely beneficial for applications with variable workloads, such as websites during peak traffic times or batch processing applications that need to run only occasionally. It provides a cost-effective way to handle spikes in usage without committing to a constant increase in resources. In the context of the other options, load balancing distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers to ensure no single server becomes overwhelmed, but it doesn’t specifically increase available resources in response to peak workloads. Horizontal scaling involves adding more instances of a resource to increase capacity, while vertical scaling requires upgrading existing servers to enhance their performance. Both of these methods can improve performance but may not provide the same level of flexibility as cloud bursting in a public cloud scenario, where additional resources can be accessed on-demand and are