%% date:: [[2022-09-28]] %% # [[Elasticity]] *Can the system conserve resources during periods of lower demand?* Elasticity is a relatively newer aspect to performance testing brought about by advances in the cloud that allow application infrastructure to adapt to changes in load. Unlike scalability, elasticity emphasises scaling down as much as it does scaling up. Testing that virtual machines scale up when load increases is important, but testing that virtual machines also scale down when load decreases can also help save on unnecessary costs.