What is Cloud Bursting?
Cloud bursting is a hybrid cloud deployment that automatically scales an application from a private cloud to a public cloud during demand spikes.
Cloud bursting is a hybrid cloud architecture where an application normally runs in a private cloud or on-premises data center. When demand exceeds the capacity of the private environment, additional compute resources are dynamically provisioned from a public cloud provider. This allows the application to handle peak loads without over-provisioning the private infrastructure.
The mechanism involves monitoring load metrics on the private infrastructure. When thresholds are breached, orchestration tools spin up virtual machines or containers in the public cloud, redirect traffic, and synchronize data. Once demand subsides, the public resources are decommissioned. This requires consistent environments and fast network connectivity between the two domains.
Cloud bursting is a cost-effective strategy for workloads with variable or unpredictable demand. It reduces the need to maintain idle capacity but introduces complexity in networking, data consistency, and security. It is most suitable for stateless or loosely coupled applications that can tolerate latency and have automated deployment pipelines.
Key facts
- Automatically extends on-premises capacity to public cloud during demand spikes.
- Requires automated orchestration to provision and deprovision cloud resources.
- Typically used for stateless applications or batch processing jobs.
- Can reduce costs compared to maintaining full peak capacity on-premises.
- Network latency and data synchronization are common challenges.
How it works in practice
Related terms
References
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