Auto-Scale Strategy for Azure Virtual Machines
Question
You manage a solution in Azure that consists of a single application which runs on a virtual machine (VM). Traffic to the application has increased dramatically.
The application must not experience any downtime and scaling must be dynamically defined.
You need to define an auto-scale strategy to ensure that the VM can handle the workload.
Which three options should you recommend? Each correct answer presents a complete solution.
NOTE: Each correct selection is worth one point.
Answers
Explanations
Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer
A. B. C. D. E.CDE
To ensure that the virtual machine (VM) hosting the application can handle the increased workload without experiencing any downtime, an autoscaling strategy should be implemented. Autoscaling allows for the VM's resources to increase or decrease dynamically based on the workload and the VM's performance.
The recommended options to define an auto-scale strategy are:
A. Deploy application automatic vertical scaling Vertical scaling increases or decreases the resources of a single VM. This strategy can be useful when the application workload changes, but the VM size remains the same. Azure provides an option to configure automatic vertical scaling, which can be used to increase or decrease the resources of a single VM based on metrics like CPU usage, memory usage, and network traffic.
B. Create a VM availability set An availability set is a logical grouping of two or more VMs within a datacenter that provides high availability and resiliency to an application. VMs within an availability set are placed in different update domains and fault domains, ensuring that if one VM goes down, the other VMs in the availability set can continue to function. Creating an availability set is a good practice when running a single VM, as it ensures that the application will have high availability in case of VM failure or hardware maintenance.
C. Create a VM scale set A scale set is a group of VMs that can be scaled up or down based on the workload. A VM scale set can be used to increase the number of VM instances to handle the increased traffic, and decrease the number of instances when the traffic decreases. Azure provides an option to configure automatic horizontal scaling based on metrics like CPU usage, memory usage, and network traffic. By creating a VM scale set, you can ensure that the application can handle the increased traffic while maintaining the same level of performance.
D. Deploy application automatic horizontal scaling Horizontal scaling increases or decreases the number of VMs based on the workload. This strategy is useful when the application workload changes, and additional VM instances are needed to handle the traffic. Azure provides an option to configure automatic horizontal scaling, which can be used to increase or decrease the number of VM instances based on metrics like CPU usage, memory usage, and network traffic.
E. Deploy a custom auto-scale implementation If none of the above options meet your specific requirements, you can deploy a custom auto-scale implementation. A custom implementation allows you to define your own scaling rules and logic, which can be based on any custom metrics or events. This option requires more effort and expertise, but it provides the flexibility to design an auto-scaling solution tailored to your specific needs.
In summary, the recommended options for defining an auto-scale strategy for a single VM hosting an application are creating a VM availability set, creating a VM scale set, and deploying application automatic vertical scaling. These options can ensure that the VM can handle the increased workload without experiencing any downtime, and scaling can be dynamically defined based on the workload.
