Separating storage from compute in database systems has become prevalent due to its benefits such as scalability, durability, and cost efficiency. However, traditional approaches often sacrifice performance with increased latency caused by network communication between servers. PlanetScale addresses this issue through their innovative solution called Metal.
Metal offers a unique approach where each MySQL instance within an optimized Vitess cluster runs on a dedicated server equipped with direct-attached NVMe SSD drives for storage. This design eliminates the need for network communication between compute and storage layers, resulting in significantly faster IOPS performance without any throttling or additional costs associated with high-end IOPS classes. Additionally, Metal ensures data durability by default through replication mechanisms where each cluster consists of a primary server along with two replicas.
To cater to growing demands seamlessly, users can easily expand their storage capacity simply by clicking a button within the interface without experiencing downtime or manual intervention during migration processes. PlanetScale handles all these complexities behind scenes while maintaining high availability and zero-downtime operations throughout upgrades or scaling events.
In summary, Metal combines the advantages of both worlds – combining direct attached storage with distributed computing power – providing users with unparalleled performance levels coupled with robust scalability features necessary for modern applications’ ever-growing demands.
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