Replication and Sharding Knowledge Base

Quick reference for application-level read/write splitting, connection routing, and replica lag handling in PHP applications.

Master-Slave (Primary-Replica) Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   PRIMARY-REPLICA READ/WRITE SPLIT                   │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                      │
│   Application Layer                                                 │
│       │                                                              │
│       ├── INSERT / UPDATE / DELETE ──▶ Primary (Master)              │
│       │                                   │                         │
│       │                          Replication (async)                │
│       │                                   │                         │
│       │                        ┌──────────┼──────────┐              │
│       │                        │          │          │              │
│       │                        ▼          ▼          ▼              │
│       └── SELECT ──────────▶ Replica 1  Replica 2  Replica 3       │
│           (round-robin)                                             │
│                                                                      │
│   Benefits:                                                         │
│   • Read throughput scales linearly with replica count              │
│   • Primary handles only writes → reduced write latency             │
│   • Replicas can be in different regions → lower read latency       │
│                                                                      │
│   Trade-offs:                                                       │
│   • Replication lag: replicas may return stale data                 │
│   • Write scaling requires sharding (replicas don't help)           │
│   • Application must be aware of routing                            │
│                                                                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Connection Wrapper Pattern

Route SELECT queries to replicas, INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE to primary.

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Infrastructure\Database;

final class ReadWriteConnection
{
    private ?\PDO $primaryConnection = null;
    private ?\PDO $replicaConnection = null;
    private bool $forcePrimary = false;

    /**
     * @param list<array{host: string, port: int}> $replicaConfigs
     */
    public function __construct(
        private readonly ConnectionConfig $primaryConfig,
        private readonly array $replicaConfigs,
        private readonly string $database,
        private readonly string $username,
        private readonly string $password,
    ) {}

    public function primary(): \PDO
    {
        if ($this->primaryConnection === null) {
            $this->primaryConnection = $this->connect(
                $this->primaryConfig->host,
                $this->primaryConfig->port,
            );
        }

        return $this->primaryConnection;
    }

    public function replica(): \PDO
    {
        if ($this->forcePrimary) {
            return $this->primary();
        }

        if ($this->replicaConnection === null) {
            $config = $this->replicaConfigs[array_rand($this->replicaConfigs)];
            $this->replicaConnection = $this->connect($config['host'], $config['port']);
        }

        return $this->replicaConnection;
    }

    public function usePrimary(): void
    {
        $this->forcePrimary = true;
    }

    public function releasePrimary(): void
    {
        $this->forcePrimary = false;
    }

    private function connect(string $host, int $port): \PDO
    {
        $dsn = sprintf('pgsql:host=%s;port=%d;dbname=%s', $host, $port, $this->database);

        return new \PDO($dsn, $this->username, $this->password, [
            \PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => \PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
            \PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => \PDO::FETCH_ASSOC,
            \PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => false,
        ]);
    }
}

Query Routing Decision Tree

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   QUERY ROUTING DECISION TREE                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                      │
│   Incoming Query                                                    │
│       │                                                              │
│       ▼                                                              │
│   Inside transaction?                                               │
│       │                                                              │
│       ├── YES ──▶ Route to PRIMARY (all queries in TX go to master) │
│       │                                                              │
│       └── NO                                                        │
│           │                                                          │
│           ▼                                                          │
│       Is write query? (INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE/DDL)                    │
│           │                                                          │
│           ├── YES ──▶ Route to PRIMARY                              │
│           │              │                                           │
│           │              ▼                                           │
│           │          Set "sticky master" flag                       │
│           │          (next reads go to primary for N seconds)       │
│           │                                                          │
│           └── NO (SELECT)                                           │
│               │                                                      │
│               ▼                                                      │
│           "Sticky master" active?                                   │
│               │                                                      │
│               ├── YES ──▶ Route to PRIMARY (read-your-writes)       │
│               │                                                      │
│               └── NO                                                │
│                   │                                                  │
│                   ▼                                                  │
│               Critical read? (consistency required)                 │
│                   │                                                  │
│                   ├── YES ──▶ Route to PRIMARY                      │
│                   │                                                  │
│                   └── NO ──▶ Route to REPLICA (round-robin)         │
│                                                                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Replica Lag Handling

Strategies

Strategy	Description	Consistency	Complexity
Sticky master	After write, read from master for N seconds	Strong (within window)	Low
Causal consistency token	Pass replication position to reader	Strong	Medium
Read from master	Critical reads always go to master	Strong	Low
Lag-aware routing	Check replica lag, fallback to master	Near-real-time	High
Eventual reads	Accept stale data	Eventual	None

Sticky Master Implementation

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Infrastructure\Database;

final class StickyMasterConnection
{
    private ?\DateTimeImmutable $lastWriteAt = null;

    public function __construct(
        private readonly ReadWriteConnection $connection,
        private readonly int $stickyDurationSeconds = 5,
    ) {}

    public function executeWrite(string $sql, array $params = []): void
    {
        $stmt = $this->connection->primary()->prepare($sql);
        $stmt->execute($params);
        $this->lastWriteAt = new \DateTimeImmutable();
    }

    public function executeRead(string $sql, array $params = []): array
    {
        $pdo = $this->shouldUsePrimary()
            ? $this->connection->primary()
            : $this->connection->replica();

        $stmt = $pdo->prepare($sql);
        $stmt->execute($params);

        return $stmt->fetchAll();
    }

    private function shouldUsePrimary(): bool
    {
        if ($this->lastWriteAt === null) {
            return false;
        }

        $elapsed = (new \DateTimeImmutable())->getTimestamp() - $this->lastWriteAt->getTimestamp();

        return $elapsed < $this->stickyDurationSeconds;
    }
}

Lag-Aware Routing

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Infrastructure\Database;

final readonly class LagAwareRouter
{
    public function __construct(
        private ReadWriteConnection $connection,
        private float $maxAcceptableLagSeconds = 1.0,
    ) {}

    public function selectReplica(): \PDO
    {
        $lag = $this->measureReplicaLag();

        if ($lag > $this->maxAcceptableLagSeconds) {
            return $this->connection->primary();
        }

        return $this->connection->replica();
    }

    private function measureReplicaLag(): float
    {
        // PostgreSQL: check replication lag
        $stmt = $this->connection->replica()->query(
            "SELECT EXTRACT(EPOCH FROM (now() - pg_last_xact_replay_timestamp())) AS lag_seconds"
        );

        $row = $stmt->fetch();

        return (float) ($row['lag_seconds'] ?? PHP_FLOAT_MAX);
    }
}

Transaction-Aware Routing

All queries inside a transaction must go to the primary to maintain ACID guarantees.

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Infrastructure\Database;

final class TransactionAwareConnection
{
    private bool $inTransaction = false;

    public function __construct(
        private readonly ReadWriteConnection $connection,
    ) {}

    public function beginTransaction(): void
    {
        $this->connection->primary()->beginTransaction();
        $this->inTransaction = true;
        $this->connection->usePrimary();
    }

    public function commit(): void
    {
        $this->connection->primary()->commit();
        $this->inTransaction = false;
        $this->connection->releasePrimary();
    }

    public function rollBack(): void
    {
        $this->connection->primary()->rollBack();
        $this->inTransaction = false;
        $this->connection->releasePrimary();
    }

    public function query(string $sql, array $params = []): array
    {
        $pdo = $this->resolveConnection($sql);
        $stmt = $pdo->prepare($sql);
        $stmt->execute($params);

        return $stmt->fetchAll();
    }

    private function resolveConnection(string $sql): \PDO
    {
        if ($this->inTransaction) {
            return $this->connection->primary();
        }

        if ($this->isWriteQuery($sql)) {
            return $this->connection->primary();
        }

        return $this->connection->replica();
    }

    private function isWriteQuery(string $sql): bool
    {
        $normalized = strtoupper(ltrim($sql));

        return str_starts_with($normalized, 'INSERT')
            || str_starts_with($normalized, 'UPDATE')
            || str_starts_with($normalized, 'DELETE')
            || str_starts_with($normalized, 'CREATE')
            || str_starts_with($normalized, 'ALTER')
            || str_starts_with($normalized, 'DROP')
            || str_starts_with($normalized, 'TRUNCATE');
    }
}

Framework Integration Examples

Doctrine DBAL PrimaryReadReplicaConnection

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

// config/packages/doctrine.yaml equivalent
// Doctrine DBAL natively supports primary-replica via PrimaryReadReplicaConnection

$connectionParams = [
    'wrapperClass' => \Doctrine\DBAL\Connections\PrimaryReadReplicaConnection::class,
    'driver' => 'pdo_pgsql',
    'primary' => [
        'host' => 'db-primary',
        'port' => 5432,
        'dbname' => 'myapp',
        'user' => 'app',
        'password' => 'secret',
    ],
    'replica' => [
        [
            'host' => 'db-replica1',
            'port' => 5432,
            'dbname' => 'myapp',
            'user' => 'app_readonly',
            'password' => 'secret',
        ],
        [
            'host' => 'db-replica2',
            'port' => 5432,
            'dbname' => 'myapp',
            'user' => 'app_readonly',
            'password' => 'secret',
        ],
    ],
];

// Usage: Doctrine automatically routes reads to replicas
// $connection->ensureConnectedToPrimary(); // force primary for critical reads

Laravel Read/Write Configuration

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

// config/database.php — Laravel read/write split
return [
    'connections' => [
        'pgsql' => [
            'read' => [
                'host' => [
                    env('DB_READ_HOST_1', 'db-replica1'),
                    env('DB_READ_HOST_2', 'db-replica2'),
                ],
            ],
            'write' => [
                'host' => env('DB_WRITE_HOST', 'db-primary'),
            ],
            'driver' => 'pgsql',
            'port' => env('DB_PORT', '5432'),
            'database' => env('DB_DATABASE', 'myapp'),
            'username' => env('DB_USERNAME', 'app'),
            'password' => env('DB_PASSWORD', ''),
            'sticky' => true, // sticky master after writes
        ],
    ],
];

Quick Reference Tables

Routing Rules Summary

Query Type	Transaction Active	After Recent Write	Route To
SELECT	No	No	Replica
SELECT	No	Yes (< N sec)	Primary (sticky)
SELECT	Yes	—	Primary
SELECT FOR UPDATE	—	—	Primary
INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE	—	—	Primary
DDL (CREATE/ALTER)	—	—	Primary

Replication Topology Comparison

Topology	Write Scaling	Read Scaling	Failover	Complexity
Single primary, N replicas	No (1 writer)	Yes (N readers)	Manual/auto	Low
Multi-primary	Yes (N writers)	Yes (N readers)	Automatic	High
Cascading replicas	No	Yes (tree)	Complex	Medium
Circular replication	Limited	Yes	Complex	High

Common Pitfalls

Pitfall	Problem	Solution
All reads to primary	No read scaling benefit	Route SELECTs to replicas
Ignoring replica lag	Stale data in critical reads	Sticky master or read from primary
No fallback on replica failure	Read failures	Health check + fallback to primary
SELECT FOR UPDATE on replica	Lock not acquired	Always route locking reads to primary
Large transactions hold master	Blocks replication	Keep transactions short
No connection timeout	Hung connections	Set connect_timeout and statement_timeout

Detection Patterns

# Read/write split configuration
Grep: "read.*write|write.*read|PrimaryReadReplica|MasterSlave" --glob "**/*.php"
Grep: "read.*host|write.*host|DB_READ_HOST|DB_WRITE_HOST" --glob "**/.env*"

# Doctrine primary-replica
Grep: "PrimaryReadReplicaConnection|MasterSlaveConnection" --glob "**/*.php"
Grep: "ensureConnectedToPrimary|ensureConnectedToReplica" --glob "**/*.php"

# Laravel read/write config
Grep: "'read'.*=>|'write'.*=>|'sticky'.*=>.*true" --glob "**/database.php"

# Manual routing patterns
Grep: "primary\(\)|replica\(\)|master\(\)|slave\(\)" --glob "**/*.php"
Grep: "isWriteQuery|isReadQuery|routeQuery" --glob "**/*.php"

# Replication lag monitoring
Grep: "pg_last_xact_replay_timestamp|Seconds_Behind_Master|replication_lag" --glob "**/*.php"

# Connection configuration
Grep: "PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT|ATTR_PERSISTENT" --glob "**/*.php"
Grep: "pgbouncer|proxysql" --glob "**/docker-compose*.yml"

References

For detailed information, load these reference files:

• references/read-write-patterns.md — Doctrine DBAL PrimaryReadReplicaConnection setup, custom connection wrapper, Laravel read_write config, transaction-aware routing, replica lag detection, health checks