Databases

Each VIP Platform WordPress environment is supported by a unique database. Unique databases per-environment allows testing to be performed on non-production environments without impacting the production environment.

To improve database performance, WPVIP uses Automattic’s HyperDB db.php drop-in. HyperDB is configured to send writes to an environment’s master database and sends reads to database replicas. No other db.php drop-ins can be used on the platform.

The size of an environment’s database can be reviewed in the Database Backups panel or the Insights & Metrics panel of the VIP Dashboard.

Custom database tables

If necessary, custom tables can be added to a VIP Platform environment’s database.

When adding a custom database table, use caution and follow best practices:

• To prevent unexpected issues, all tables should begin with the $wpdb->prefix table prefix.

• Use dbDelta as part of an upgrade routine to add/update the table.
• Do a thorough analysis of the schema and indexes and validate against the queries being run to ensure they match up.
• Add caching to queries where it makes sense.