A Guide to Horizontal vs Vertical Scaling
FAQs
The term _database scaling_ refers to the process of changing database system capacity depending upon the amount of data or user activity occurring at any given time. Scaling can occur temporarily if you expect a sudden burst of traffic due to some ad placements or more permanently when you see a constant increase in the popularity of your services.
There are two approaches to database scaling: horizontal and vertical scaling. Scaling vertically means adding more hardware resources, computing power, or data storage to one machine. Meanwhile, horizontal scaling means adding more servers and/or engaging in distributed computing by adding machines and computing resources.
Common types of horizontal scaling include:
- **Sharding**: The sharding method of horizontal scaling involves dividing a large database into smaller, more manageable pieces called shards, and then distributing the shards across multiple machines.
- **Repetition**: The replication method of scaling horizontally creates multiple copies of the same database on multiple machines.
- **Clustering**: The clustering method of horizontal scaling involves the combination of multiple servers or machines so that they can behave as one united system.
There are several key differences between vertical and horizontal scaling, including:
- Scalability
- System resiliency
- Complexity
- Internal skill set requirements
- Cost
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