Database Performance Is Like Cake: The Layer Model

23 March 2011

Do you have a performance problem with databases? I bet you do. Do you ever wonder about what to do next to fix it? I bet you have.

The best way to improve your database’s performance depends on your resources, your skills, and what you’ve done already. Also, the bigger the problem, the riskier the solution.

The Layer Model

I’ve come up with The Layer Model to do performance tuning. Systems have layers, or tiers, with different problems and solutions fitting into each layer. The risks and rewards are different in each layer. Most importantly, once you have optimized one layer, you should go up a layer to improve performance.

If you think about your system this way, you’ll have a reliable process to improve the performance of your applications.