What solution can help ensure availability of point-of-sale systems during peak sales periods?

Load balancing is the most effective solution for ensuring the availability of point-of-sale systems during peak sales periods. This technique distributes incoming network traffic across multiple servers or resources, which helps to manage and optimize server utilization. By balancing the load, it reduces the risk of any single server becoming overwhelmed during high-traffic times, such as holiday sales or special promotions. This ensures that customers can complete transactions smoothly and effectively, thus maintaining the availability of the point-of-sale system when it is needed most.

Database backups, while important for data recovery and integrity, do not directly contribute to system availability during peak times. Network monitoring is essential for maintaining performance and detecting issues but does not inherently prevent overload. Service patches are crucial for security and performance improvements but do not handle the immediate capacity concerns that arise during spikes in transaction volume.