What is Database Scaling?

Database scaling refers to the process of increasing a database's capacity to handle growing workloads, such as higher numbers of queries, larger datasets, or more concurrent users.
The primary goal is to ensure the database maintains performance, reliability, and availability as demand increases.

There are two primary types of database scaling:

• ⬆️ Vertical Scaling (Scaling Up)
• ➡️ Horizontal Scaling (Sharding)

🤔 Why Do We Need Database Scaling?

Suppose your current database server can handle up to 1000 queries per second (QPS). What happens if your website traffic spikes due to a new feature launch or increased popularity? Without scaling, your database will eventually fail under the load.
Scaling ensures that your database can meet the growing demands of your application, balancing data distribution, optimizing resources, and maintaining cost efficiency.

❓Why Not Just Use Master-Slave Replication?

If you're familiar with master-slave replication, you might think it eliminates the need for scaling. (If not, check out my blog post on Database Replication NLogN👈 to learn more). While replication is effective for scaling reads and providing fault tolerance, it doesn't solve all challenges:

1. Write Bottlenecks: Replication doesn't improve write capacity since all writes must still go to the master
2. Hotspots: Frequently accessed data can overload specific nodes
3. Scaling Limits: Replication doesn't address global traffic distribution needs

🛠️ Types of Database Scaling

1.⬆️ Vertical Scaling (Scaling Up)

Vertical scaling involves upgrading the existing database server by adding more hardware, such as additional CPU, RAM, or storage.

Why Can't We Keep Adding More Hardware?

1. High Costs: High-end servers are exponentially more expensive
2. Hardware Limitations:
   • Limited motherboard slots for RAM
   • Restricted cores and threads in CPUs
3. Single Point of Failure: One server creates critical risk
4. Scalability Ceiling: Hardware improvements have physical limits

2.➡️ Horizontal Scaling (Sharding)

Horizontal scaling involves distributing data across multiple servers to divide the load. Each server (or shard) stores a unique subset of the data.

How Does Sharding Work?

Data is allocated to servers based on a sharding key. For example:

• Use a hash function like user_id % 4 to determine which shard handles specific user data
• Shard 0 stores data for users where the result is 0, and so on

Benefits of Sharding

• Distributes load evenly across multiple servers
• Allows indefinite scaling by adding more shards

Challenges of Sharding

1. Resharding Data: Redistributing data across new shards when capacity is reached
2. Celebrity Problem: Disproportionate traffic to specific shards
3. Joins and Denormalization: Difficulty in performing cross-shard joins
4. Complex Application Logic: Applications must route queries correctly

📋 When to Choose Replication vs. Scaling?

• Use replication for read-heavy workloads and fault tolerance
• Use scaling for growing traffic and write-heavy workloads

🎯 Conclusion

Scaling your database is crucial for supporting rapidly increasing data traffic and ensuring high availability. Whether you choose vertical scaling or horizontal scaling, the decision depends on your specific requirements and growth projections.

🔮 Coming Next

Stay tuned for our next blog on message queues and data centers, two powerful techniques for reducing latency and improving application performance!