Scalability

Scalability is the ability of a system, network, or process, to handle growing amount of work in a capable manner or its ability to be enlarged to accommodate that growth. 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 and in any particular case it is necessary to define the specific requirements for scalability on those dimensions that are deemed important. It is a highly significant issue in electronics systems, databases, 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 a large number of participating nodes in the case of a distributed system). If the design fails when the quantity increases, it does not scale.

In information technology, scalability (frequently spelled scaleability) seems to have two usages:
1) It is the ability of a computer application or product (hardware or software) to continue to function well when it (or its context) is changed in size or volume in order to meet a user need. Typically, the rescaling is to a larger size or volume. The rescaling can be of the product itself (for example, a line of computer systems of different sizes in terms of storage, RAM, and so forth) or in the scalable object's movement to a new context (for example, a new operating system).

2) It is the ability not only to function well in the rescaled situation, but to actually take full advantage of it. For example, an application program would be scalable if it could be moved from a smaller to a larger operating system and take full advantage of the larger operating system in terms of performance(user response time and so forth) and the larger number of users that could be handled.
 
Bibliography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalability
http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/definition/scalability