What is meant by 'cloud elasticity'?

Cloud elasticity refers to the ability of a cloud computing environment to automatically scale resources up or down based on demand. This means that when a system experiences increased workloads, such as during peak times, additional resources can be provisioned automatically to handle the load, and conversely, when demand decreases, those resources can be reduced or deallocated. This dynamic provisioning of resources allows organizations to efficiently manage costs while ensuring performance, as they only pay for what they use.

This capability is particularly valuable in cloud environments because it enhances responsiveness and flexibility, enabling applications to maintain optimal performance levels without the need for excessive pre-planning or resource over-provisioning. It contrasts sharply with maintaining a fixed resource level, which can lead to inefficiencies or performance degradation during unexpected demand fluctuations. The other options describe scenarios that do not align with the concept of elasticity in cloud environments, as they either limit resource availability or involve manual intervention rather than automated scaling.