What does scalable mean, in reference to a computer?

Question

What does scalable mean, in reference to a computer?

Answer 1

It means that you can upgrade it to fit different situations

Answer 2

Scalability refers to how easy it is to expand a system to handle more users and more data.

For example, when Twitter.com launched, it only had a few users, so it worked great. When they started getting thousands more users, they needed to add more servers, but the way they built the system didn't allow them to do so, so now Twitter is slow and crashes a lot. Twitter was NOT scalable in its original form.

Google, on the other hand, has a system that can operate with any number of computers. If more people start using it, they can just plug in more machines. Google IS scalable.

Answer 3

Scalable is synonymous with expandable. A computer with a scalable architecture is able to be upgraded easily and for a long time. When buying network equipment, it is especially important that it is scalable so that it can work with the newer systems that may be added on later. The less scalable your equipment is, the sooner you'll be forced to upgrade.

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Answer 4

calability is a desirable property of a system, a network, or a process, which indicates its ability to either handle growing amounts of work in a graceful manner, or to be readily enlarged.[1] For example, it can refer to the capability of a system to increase total throughput under an increased load when resources (typically hardware) are added. An analogous meaning is implied when the word is used in a commercial context, where scalability of a company implies that the underlying business model offers the potential for economic growth within the company.

Scalability, as a property of systems, is generally difficult to define [2] and in any particular case it is necessary to define the specific requirements for scalability on those dimensions which are deemed important. It is a highly significant issue in electronics systems, database, routers, and networking. A system whose performance improves after adding hardware, proportionally to the capacity added, is said to be a scalable system. An algorithm, design, networking protocol, program, or other system is said to scale if it is suitably efficient and practical when applied to large situations (e.g. a large input data set or large number of participating nodes in the case of a distributed system). If the design fails when the quantity increases then it does not scale.