Sometimes terms like scaling are – as the brits like to say – bandied about, without everyone agreeing on what they mean. That’s because scaling is an insiders term, a technical term thought to carry great weight, but nevertheless often misunderstood.So I wanted to write an article about this interesting and important topic, while sticking to terms that everyone *can* agree on. This is the first in a two part series where I discuss various ways to make your database scale. But I talk in terms of faster, stronger, bigger and better because I think we can all agree that’s what we’re really trying to achieve! Database Journal: Faster & Stronger MySQL