Final answer:
A serverless architecture with scalable cloud services for both the application layer and OLTP database is the most cost-effective solution for the company's needs during idle periods.
Step-by-step explanation:
To ensure the application is cost-effective during periods of inactivity, the company should consider a cloud solution offering scalable computing resources. One such solution is to use a serverless architecture or services that scale automatically and charge based on usage, such as AWS Lambda for the application layer, coupled with Amazon RDS leveraging the auto-scaling feature for the OLTP relational database. These services only charge when they are actively used, which can lead to significant cost savings during idle periods without sacrificing availability.
A cost-effective solution for deploying an application with periods of inactivity is to use serverless computing. With serverless computing, the company only pays for actual compute resources used, resulting in lower costs during idle periods. Cloud providers offer serverless platforms that can automatically scale up and down based on demand.