Discover 15 hidden, surprising facts about vertical vs. horizontal scaling databases.
Infinite Scaling Potential: Horizontal scaling allows you to keep adding servers indefinitely, meaning there’s no practical limit to how large your database can grow.
Cheap Hardware, Expensive Setup: While horizontal scaling lets you use less expensive hardware, the costs of managing multiple servers,
Geographic Distribution: It’s ideal for global applications since servers can be placed in different regions, reducing latency and improving user experience worldwide.
Data Sharding Is a Must: Most horizontally scaled systems require data sharding—breaking up databases into smaller pieces—which adds complexity to database management.
Not Every Database Supports It: Some traditional relational databases don’t easily support horizontal scaling, forcing companies to switch to NoSQL or cloud-native solutions.
Fault Tolerance: Horizontal scaling offers better fault tolerance by distributing data across multiple servers. If one server goes down, the others can take over seamlessly.
Higher Security Risks: Managing security across multiple servers can become challenging. Each server becomes a potential entry point for hackers.
These facts highlight the incredible benefits and challenges of horizontal scaling databases, making them a powerful yet complex solution for growing systems!