Faster DB ⚡️

Faster DB provides alternative database drivers for Drupal that reuse connections between PHP-FPM requests. This reduces connection overhead while retaining core's query, schema and transaction implementations.

This project is experimental. Test it on a copy of your site before using it in production.

Features

• mysqlfast: persistent connections for MySQL and MariaDB.
• pgsqlfast: persistent connections for PostgreSQL, avoiding repeated connection and backend startup costs.
• sqlitefast: persistent file connections for SQLite on PHP 8.4 and later, with configurable write settings.

Local PHP 8.4 benchmarks measured about 83% less connection setup time on MariaDB and roughly 5 ms saved per PostgreSQL connection. Page speed improvements depend on your site. Benchmark scripts are included for comparison with the core drivers.

Post-installation

Select a driver in settings.php using the examples in the README. The module does not need to be enabled. To switch back, restore your original database settings and restart PHP-FPM.

Requirements and notes

The corresponding core database module must be present. Your database server must allow enough connections for the PHP-FPM workers and configured pools. See the README for session cleanup and hosting considerations.

SQLite uses synchronous=NORMAL by default. Recent commits may be lost after a power failure or operating-system crash. Set synchronous=FULL to restore core's durability setting.

Support

Please report problems and benchmark results in the issue queue. Include your Drupal, PHP and database versions.