What approach allows the system to adjust resources automatically in response to load during peak transaction periods?

The approach that allows a system to adjust resources automatically in response to load during peak transaction periods is auto-scaling. Auto-scaling is a cloud computing feature that automatically adjusts the number of active servers (or instances) based on the current load demand. This means that during peak times when transactions increase and the system requires more resources, additional instances can be launched automatically to handle the increased load. Conversely, when the demand decreases, unnecessary instances can be terminated to reduce costs.

This capability is vital for ensuring performance and availability during varying workloads, as it helps to maintain user experience without manual intervention. Organizations benefit from auto-scaling since it allows them to efficiently manage resource utilization, optimizing costs while ensuring that application performance is sustained.

In contrast, load balancing distributes workloads across multiple servers to prevent any single server from being overwhelmed but does not itself scale resources. Static resource allocation involves preset resources that remain fixed, failing to adapt to demand fluctuations. Resource pooling refers to the practice of using a group of resources to serve multiple customers, which is different from dynamically adjusting the number of active resources based on real-time demand.