Software Architect's Handbook

Scaling up and out

Scaling your database server vertically (up) or horizontally (out) to improve performance is not something that should be done without an understanding that it is necessary. Prior to scaling up or scaling out, software architects and DBAs should ensure that the database schema has been designed properly and that indexes have been applied properly. In addition, the application using the database should be optimized to improve performance and remove bottlenecks.

Once those measures have been taken, if the database server is experiencing high levels of resource use, it's time to consider scaling the server up or scaling it out. For database servers, it is best to scale up first by performing actions such as replacing the server ...