How can you optimise Rails Database?

Rails or Ruby on Rails (RoR) refers to a full stack and cross-platform open source framework, as developed by David Heinemeier Hansson. Here, the term ‘full stack’ implies that all the parts required to build a Web application are present. A Rails website ought to have a database at all times. A single visit to Rails can fetch one to about a hundred database queries to function. To understand the importance of the database optimisation for the hosting of Rails websites, you may like to multiply the number of database queries with the number of visitors every single day and the number of pages viewed by each visitor and the result would be self-exemplary.

Rails Database can be optimised in the following ways:

Reduction of the total number of queries run – You can easily keep your Rails database optimised by reducing the number of queries it uses. For instance, you can remove code that is not a necessity or execute something in just one query in place of two queries. This way you can very quickly improvise the response time of your website. Furthermore, you are also offered an ‘Include’ option in ActiveRecord by Rails that make it easier for you to implement the above process.

Proper Database Indexes – In order to enrich the performance of your site, you must have proper database indexes for your tables that help in the functions of search, sort and grouping. Rails, by default, adds indexes to primary keys while you can also add more indexes manually, such as indexes to type columns, foreign keys, username column and so on.

Effective use of ActiveRecord – With the help of the exclusive feature by Rails, developed to ease down programming that is ActiveRecord, you can choose from various options available and set them to improve specific Rails queries. Though optimisation of individual queries can be a tedious job task, but at the same time it can bring you incredible gains performance wise.

Optimisation of your SQL queries – Another critical way of best optimising your Rails database is to optimise your SQL queries. Rails make certain assumptions on about what your website’s database contains, but at times when it generates the database queries, it becomes too complex which further needs to be enhanced. At this stage, you are required to make use of the ‘SQL EXPLAIN’ command to identify the queries which are slow and the reasons behind it. Thereafter, you may rewrite those particular queries with raw SQL statements and by bypassing the ActiveRecord system used by Rails.



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