1305417
CLOUD COMPUTING
& VIRTUALIZATION
TECHNOLOGY
Week2(Cloud Scalability Fundamentals)
First Term 2025/2026 src:[Link]
Faculty of Information Technology
Applied Science Private University
Copyright of the Course Materials
The course’s materials are adapted
from several online and offline sources.
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 3 / 15
Lecture Outline
Introduction to Cloud Architecture
Scalability & Elasticity
Reliability Fundamentals
Summary & Architecture Example
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 4 / 15
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lecture, you will be able to:
▶ Understand Cloud Architecture vs. Traditional Architecture.
▶ Differentiate between Scalability (Up vs. Out) and Elasticity.
▶ Define High Availability (HA) and Fault Tolerance (FT).
▶ Understand the role of a Load Balancer in a scalable system.
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 5 / 15
What is Cloud Architecture?
Definition: The practice of combining cloud resources (computing,
storage, networking) to build resilient, secure, and cost-effective
applications.
The key is a fundamental shift in mindset:
Traditional IT: "Pets" Cloud Architecture: "Cattle"
▶ Managed individually. ▶ Managed as a group.
▶ Unique, hard to replace. ▶ Identical, easily replaceable.
▶ Requires manual ▶ Automated management.
intervention.
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 6 / 15
What is Scalability?
Definition: The ability of a system to handle a growing amount of
work by adding resources.
Think of it like widening a highway to handle more traffic. As more
cars (users) arrive, you add more lanes (resources) to prevent a
traffic jam (system crash).
User User
Server
Add Resources
User Server User
Server
User User
Overloaded!
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 7 / 15
Vertical Scalability (Scaling Up)
Concept: Adding more power (CPU, RAM) to an existing machine.
Upgrade Server
Server (More Power)
▶ Pros: Easy to implement for legacy applications.
▶ Cons: Has a hard physical limit and usually requires downtime.
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 8 / 15
Horizontal Scalability (Scaling Out)
Concept: Adding more machines to a pool of resources.
Add Instances
...
▶ Pros: Virtually limitless scale and no downtime for scaling.
▶ Cons: Requires applications to be designed for it (stateless).
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 9 / 15
Elasticity: The Cloud Superpower
Definition: The ability to automatically scale resources out and
in to perfectly match real-time demand.
Resources
Provisioned
Demand
Time
Scalability is having the ability to add resources. Elasticity is the
automation that does it for you, which is crucial for cost savings.
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 10 / 15
High Availability (HA)
Concept: Ensuring systems are durable and operate continuously
with minimal downtime. It’s about recovering quickly from
failure.
The "Nines" of Availability
Uptime Max Downtime / Year
X
99% 3.65 days
99.9% 8.77 hours
99.99% 52.6 minutes Failover
99.999% 5.26 minutes User Active Standby
If the active server fails, traffic is rerouted to a
standby server after a brief delay.
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 11 / 15
Fault Tolerance (FT)
Concept: The ability of a system to continue operating with zero
downtime even if a component fails. It’s about preventing failure
from ever being visible.
Mechanism: Full Redundancy
X
▶ Requires identical, parallel
systems.
▶ All components are active User Active Active
simultaneously.
Failure is invisible to the user.
▶ If one system fails, the other
Both servers are active. If one fails, the other
is already running and continues handling traffic without any interruption.
instantly takes the full load.
▶ Much more expensive than
HA.
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 12 / 15
The Enabler: Load Balancing
Definition: Distributing incoming network traffic across a group of
backend servers (a "server farm" or "pool").
User Traffic
Load
Balancer
Server 1 Server 2 Server 3
Key Roles: Prevents server overload, enables horizontal scaling,
and improves availability by routing traffic away from failed servers.
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 13 / 15
Simple Highly Available Architecture
This combines all our concepts:
Users
Load Balancer
Availability Zone 1 Availability Zone 2
This architecture can survive an entire zone failure and scale out
automatically.
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 14 / 15
Key Takeaways
▶ Design for Failure: Assume components will fail and build
systems that can withstand those failures. This is the core
principle of cloud architecture.
▶ Prefer Horizontal Scaling: It provides greater resilience and
near-infinite capacity compared to vertical scaling.
▶ Embrace Elasticity: Use automation to match resources to
demand. This is the key to managing costs effectively in the
cloud.
▶ Load Balancers are Essential: They are the linchpin for
achieving both scalability and high availability.
Dr. Mahmoud Aljawarneh CSCC, FIT, ASU, Course: Cloud Computing & Virtualization Technology 15 / 15