In cloud deployment, increasing the number of resources by adding more servers to handle load describes which scaling approach?

• A. Vertical scaling
• B. Auto-scaling
• C. Horizontal scaling
• D. Load balancing

Answer: (C)

The idea being tested is how capacity is increased to handle higher load by adding more servers, which is horizontal scaling (scale-out). Instead of upgrading a single machine, you add additional servers and distribute the workload across them, typically behind a load balancer. This approach provides elasticity and fault tolerance because you can scale out during spikes and scale back when demand drops.

Vertical scaling would mean making one server bigger (more CPU/RAM). Auto-scaling refers to automatically adjusting the number of servers based on demand, and while it often enables horizontal scaling, the action described is the actual addition of servers, which is horizontal scaling. Load balancing is about distributing traffic across servers and doesn’t by itself add capacity, though it works with horizontal scaling to route requests efficiently.