Two or more databases

[Davyc]

I'm not sure if this has been asked before.  There are some of us who are limited to the size of our databases, for example my host allows me unlimited databases, but they are only 1GB in size.

I suppose depending on how much content, members and activity going on will dictate how quickly a limited size database will fill up, so my question is; is it possible to split the load between two (or more) databases?  For example, is it possible for each app to have it's own database but allowed to access other databases to ensure consistency between them?

I know the answer would be to get a host/server that has no such limits on database size, but more often than not budget dictates what can be had.

With thanks for any replies.

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[Pete T]

59 minutes ago, Davyc said:

I'm not sure if this has been asked before.  There are some of us who are limited to the size of our databases, for example my host allows me unlimited databases, but they are only 1GB in size.

I suppose depending on how much content, members and activity going on will dictate how quickly a limited size database will fill up, so my question is; is it possible to split the load between two (or more) databases?  For example, is it possible for each app to have it's own database but allowed to access other databases to ensure consistency between them?

I know the answer would be to get a host/server that has no such limits on database size, but more often than not budget dictates what can be had.

With thanks for any replies.

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I very sure that can't split the database due to way IPS design core link with apps so when install any item on to core will install on default database used in conf_global so best way will be look host company that don't limit size of database or if they did maybe bigger size then 1GB i know not answer looking at but its only way around issue if going hit your limit, but also check with host company find out what limit for as many have limit for backup reason only and when go over this removed from the backup script.

[bfarber]

We cannot split the database to work from multiple databases generally speaking, however you do have several options!

1) Firstly, check what you are storing in the database. For instance, cached guest pages are stored in the database by default, but if you enable an alternate caching engine (such as Redis) that will be used instead. Additionally, you can configure how long guest pages are cached, and the longer you cache them for the larger the amount of data stored in the database will be. Similarly, you can choose to store 'datastore' values in the database or on disk, and if you are limited as to the size of your database, storing these on disk would make sense. Finally, you can also store attached files in the database which you wouldn't want to do if your database size is restricted.

2) Check how long each of your logs are retaining records for. Your system logs can get large pretty quickly for instance, and there usually isn't much value in retaining this data for more than a month or two. There are other logs you may wish to check as well - just use the ACP live search to look for 'prune'.

3) You CAN store older posts in a remote database by using the forum archiving feature. Visit ACP > Community > Forums > Settings and click on the Archiving tab to set it up. If you have a lot of old inactive topics, you can move these over to another database which may give you a significant amount of space back.

4) It is definitely worth looking in your database using a tool like phpmyadmin to make sure you don't have any older unused tables in there. Database tables from applications or plugins used with older versions of our software, or copies of your database tables made by the UTF8 converter but never deleted, can use up a significant amount of space.

[Davyc]

Thanks to both @bfarber and @Pete T for your replies, you have both given me food for thought and to do some checking once I get my head wrapped around the forthcoming GDPR (yeah, nightmare city lol).

I'm going to contact my host and ask about this size limit (1GB) is a bit mean when they allow unlimited databases, I'd rather have two or three with say 4GB.  If they can't help then it's time to say goodbye to them; shame as I've been with them ten+ years and had very few problems; que sera sera.

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