Advanced connection management for Swoole, RoadRunner, and ReactPHP.
Not a magic performance multiplier for classic PHP-FPM. This is a connection manager with circuit breaker, auto-release, and query optimization designed for persistent runtime environments.
This library creates process-local pools, not a global shared pool:
- Swoole/RoadRunner: One pool per worker β TRUE pooling (workers are persistent)
- PHP-FPM: One pool per worker β NOT TRUE pooling (worker-isolated, pool dies after request)
- CLI scripts: One pool per execution β Pooling only useful if script runs >1 second
This is NOT a global connection manager like PgBouncer or ProxySQL. If you need global pooling, use a dedicated connection pooler at the database layer.
1. Long-Running PHP Processes (RECOMMENDED)
- β Swoole - Full pooling, 10-100x performance
- β RoadRunner - Persistent workers, connection reuse
- β ReactPHP - Event loop optimization
- β PHP CLI Daemons - Queue processors, long-running workers
Why: Process survives across requests, pool genuinely reuses connections.
2. PHP-FPM (LIMITED BENEFITS)
β οΈ NOT true pooling - Each worker has isolated poolβ οΈ RequiresenablePersistentConnections(true)+ singleton patternβ οΈ Benefits limited to per-worker connection caching, not global poolingβ οΈ persistent connections β connection pool
Reality Check: PHP-FPM worker isolation means:
- Worker A pool β Worker B pool
- No cross-worker connection sharing
- Benefit comes from PDO persistent connections, not this library
- This library adds circuit breaker + auto-release, but NOT true pooling
Expected Benefits: Minimal (2-3% improvement from features, not pooling)
Standard PHP-FPM/Apache
- β NO TRUE POOLING - Worker isolation prevents connection sharing
- β Pool destroyed at end of each request (
__destruct()closes all) - β "Persistent connections" are PDO feature, not this library's benefit
- β Adds complexity without meaningful gains
Reality: If you're using standard PHP-FPM, you're better off with:
- Native PDO persistent connections (if needed)
- Simple connection singleton
- Standard error handling
Single-Request CLI Scripts
- β One execution = one connection, pooling unnecessary
- β Circuit breaker + auto-release still useful
When in doubt: If your PHP process lives <1 second, you don't need this.
Swoole/RoadRunner (persistent workers):
- Environment: Long-running process with true pooling
- Results: 10-100x reduction in connection overhead
- Benefits:
- β Global connection pool (shared across ALL requests)
- β Connection reuse guaranteed (pool persists across requests)
- β Circuit breaker preventing cascade failures
- β Auto-release preventing connection leaks
- β Query optimization (prepared statements, type-aware binding)
PHP-FPM (per-worker pooling):
- Environment: Static singleton + persistent connections
- Results: 20-80ms saved per request (when connection reused within same worker)
- Reality:
β οΈ Per-worker optimization (NOT global pooling)β οΈ 50 workers = 50 separate pools (50ΓN connections total)β οΈ Connection reuse depends on traffic pattern (worker must be "warm")- β Circuit breaker, auto-release still useful (2-3% improvement)
Key Insight: True pooling requires persistent runtime (Swoole/RoadRunner). PHP-FPM benefits are limited to per-worker connection caching. For global pooling with PHP-FPM, use external pooler (PgBouncer, ProxySQL).
Per-Connection Overhead (measured, PostgreSQL 16):
TCP 3-way handshake: 10-30ms (network roundtrip)
PostgreSQL authentication: 5-20ms (password hash verification)
Initial queries (SET): 5-30ms (timezone, plan_cache_mode, etc.)
βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
TOTAL per new PDO(): 20-80ms (depends on network latency + DB load)
Connection Reuse (with this package):
array_pop($idleConnections): ~0.1ms (O(1) operation)
Health check (if idle >30s): ~2-5ms (SELECT 1 query)
βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
TOTAL per reused connection: 0.1-5ms
Savings: 20-80ms per request (when connection reused successfully).
- β Real - measured in production
β οΈ Per-worker - NOT global across all workersβ οΈ Conditional - requires singleton pattern + persistent connections- β Not guaranteed - depends on traffic pattern (worker must be "warm")
Real-World Scenario (50 workers, 500 req/sec, 90% pool hit rate):
Without pooling:
500 req/sec Γ 60ms = 30,000ms overhead/sec (cumulative across workers)
= equivalent to 30 CPU-seconds wasted per second
With pooling (90% hit rate):
50 req/sec (pool miss) Γ 60ms = 3,000ms
450 req/sec (pool hit) Γ 0.1ms = 45ms
= 3,045ms overhead/sec
Savings: ~27 CPU-seconds/sec (90% reduction in connection overhead)
REALITY CHECK: These are cumulative savings across all workers, not end-to-end request latency reduction. Your API won't go from "500ms β 50ms" unless connection overhead was your ONLY bottleneck (rare).
More realistic: "120ms β 60ms" if connection overhead was 50% of request time.
- β Connection Pooling - Reuse connections (effective in Swoole/RoadRunner)
- β Auto-Scaling - Dynamically scales from 5 to 400+ connections (long-running processes)
- β Circuit Breaker - Automatic failure detection and graceful degradation
- β SSL/TLS Support - Enterprise security for PostgreSQL and MySQL
- β Auto-Release - Connections automatically returned to pool (prevents leaks)
- β Input Validation - Query size limits (1MB) and param count limits (1000) for memory protection
- β Multi-Database - PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite support
- β Framework Agnostic - Works with Laravel, Symfony, or pure PHP
- β PSR-3 Logging - Integrates with Monolog, Laravel Log, Symfony Logger
- β Type-Aware Parameter Binding - Automatic boolean/integer/null binding for PostgreSQL/MySQL
- β Query Result Caching - Redis/Memcached integration for SELECT query caching
- β Connection Warmup - Pre-create connections to avoid cold start latency
- β Connection Retry Logic - Exponential backoff (3 retries) on transient failures
- β Monitoring Hooks - New Relic, Datadog, custom metrics integration
- β Transaction Safety - Auto-rollback uncommitted transactions on connection release
- β Slow Query Detection - Automatic logging of queries >100ms (configurable)
- β Prepared Statement Caching - Reuse prepared statements (PostgreSQL optimization)
composer require senza1dio/database-poolRequirements:
- PHP 8.0+
- ext-pdo
Recommended:
- ext-redis (for distributed locking at scale)
- ext-pgsql, ext-mysqli, or ext-sqlite3
<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';
use Senza1dio\DatabasePool\Config\PoolConfig;
use Senza1dio\DatabasePool\DatabasePool;
// Configure pool once at application boot
$config = (new PoolConfig())
->setHost('localhost')
->setPort(5432)
->setDatabase('myapp')
->setCredentials('postgres', 'secret')
->setPoolSize(5, 50);
$pool = new DatabasePool($config);
// Handle requests (pool persists across requests)
while ($request = $server->acceptRequest()) {
$pdo = $pool->getConnection();
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?');
$stmt->execute([123]);
$user = $stmt->fetch();
// Connection automatically released and returned to pool
}<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';
use Senza1dio\DatabasePool\Config\PoolConfig;
use Senza1dio\DatabasePool\DatabasePool;
$config = (new PoolConfig())
->setHost('localhost')
->setPort(5432)
->setDatabase('myapp')
->setCredentials('postgres', 'secret')
->setPoolSize(5, 50);
$pool = new DatabasePool($config);
// Process queue messages (long-running daemon)
while (true) {
$message = $queue->pop();
$pdo = $pool->getConnection();
$pdo->exec("INSERT INTO processed VALUES (...)");
// Connection auto-released, reused on next iteration
}<?php
// config/database-pool.php
return [
'host' => env('DB_HOST', 'localhost'),
'port' => env('DB_PORT', 5432),
'database' => env('DB_DATABASE', 'laravel'),
'username' => env('DB_USERNAME', 'postgres'),
'password' => env('DB_PASSWORD', ''),
'minConnections' => 10,
'maxConnections' => 100,
];
// app/Providers/DatabasePoolServiceProvider.php
use Senza1dio\DatabasePool\Config\PoolConfig;
use Senza1dio\DatabasePool\DatabasePool;
use Senza1dio\DatabasePool\Adapters\Locks\RedisLock;
use Senza1dio\DatabasePool\Adapters\Loggers\Psr3LoggerAdapter;
$this->app->singleton(DatabasePool::class, function ($app) {
$config = PoolConfig::fromArray(config('database-pool'))
->setLock(new RedisLock(Redis::connection()->client()))
->setLogger(new Psr3LoggerAdapter(Log::channel('database')));
return new DatabasePool($config);
});
// Usage in controllers
public function __construct(DatabasePool $pool) {
$this->pool = $pool;
}
public function show($id) {
$pdo = $this->pool->getConnection();
// ... use PDO
}<?php
// config/services.yaml
services:
Senza1dio\DatabasePool\DatabasePool:
arguments:
$config: '@database_pool.config'
database_pool.config:
class: Senza1dio\DatabasePool\Config\PoolConfig
factory: ['Senza1dio\DatabasePool\Config\PoolConfig', 'fromArray']
arguments:
- host: '%env(DATABASE_HOST)%'
port: '%env(int:DATABASE_PORT)%'
database: '%env(DATABASE_NAME)%'
username: '%env(DATABASE_USER)%'
password: '%env(DATABASE_PASSWORD)%'
minConnections: 10
maxConnections: 100
// Usage in controllers
public function index(DatabasePool $pool) {
$pdo = $pool->getConnection();
// ... use PDO
}For PHP-FPM deployments, use the built-in DatabasePoolSingleton:
<?php
use Senza1dio\DatabasePool\Config\PoolConfig;
use Senza1dio\DatabasePool\DatabasePoolSingleton;
$config = (new PoolConfig())
->setHost('localhost')
->setPort(5432)
->setDatabase('myapp')
->setCredentials('postgres', 'secret')
->setPoolSize(5, 50)
->enablePersistentConnections(true);
// Get singleton instance (persists across requests in same worker)
$pool = DatabasePoolSingleton::getInstance($config);
$pdo = $pool->getConnection();Why this works: Static instance survives across requests within the same PHP-FPM worker.
When using DatabasePoolSingleton, you MUST reuse the same PoolConfig instance:
// β WRONG - Creates new config object each time (will throw LogicException)
$pool = DatabasePoolSingleton::getInstance(PoolConfig::fromArray($config));
// β
CORRECT - Reuse same config instance
static $poolConfig = null;
if ($poolConfig === null) {
$poolConfig = PoolConfig::fromArray($config);
}
$pool = DatabasePoolSingleton::getInstance($poolConfig);Why: Config identity is checked via spl_object_hash(). Two PoolConfig objects with identical values but different instances are considered different configurations and will throw LogicException.
Alternative: Use DatabasePoolSingleton::reset() to reconfigure, but this closes all connections.
- Uses
fetchAll()internally - not suitable for large datasets (>10k rows) - No streaming support, breaks memory profile
- Only caches
SELECTqueries withFETCH_ASSOC - Reality: This is application-level caching, not database-level optimization
- Best for: Small lookups (<100 rows), frequently-accessed reference data
- Not for: Large reports, streaming queries, cursor-based operations
- Reuses same
PDOStatementobject with defaultfetchMode - Not safe for scrollable cursors or custom statement attributes
- Not invalidated on reconnect (fragile in edge cases)
- Status: Experimental - use with caution in production
- Best for: Simple repeated queries in stable connections
- Semaphore locks prevent race conditions within same PHP process
- Do NOT coordinate between different Swoole/RoadRunner workers
- When useful: Swoole coroutine environments with shared state
- When useless: PHP-FPM (no shared state), single-threaded RoadRunner
- For global coordination, use Redis-based locks (see
RedisLockadapter)
Reality: In most deployments, locks add overhead without benefit. They're insurance against edge cases.
- Each connection has separate in-memory database
- Connection pooling loses data between connections
- Use file-based SQLite for pooling benefits
- Query size and param count limits protect memory, not pool availability
- Does NOT protect against:
- Slow queries (use database-level timeouts)
- Blocking queries (use transaction timeouts)
- Direct PDO methods (
quote(),exec()) - Multi-statement queries
- Reality: Best-effort protection. Full enforcement only via
DatabasePool::executeQuery()API.
$config = (new PoolConfig())
// Database connection
->setHost('localhost')
->setPort(5432)
->setDatabase('myapp')
->setCredentials('user', 'pass')
->setCharset('utf8')
// Pool sizing
->setPoolSize(10, 100) // Min 10, Max 100
// SSL/TLS (recommended for production)
->enableSsl(
verify: true,
required: true,
ca: '/path/to/ca.pem'
)
// Circuit breaker
->setCircuitBreaker(
threshold: 10, // Open after 10 failures
timeout: 20 // Retry after 20 seconds
)
// Query limits (DoS protection)
->setQueryLimits(
maxSize: 1048576, // 1MB max query
maxParams: 1000 // 1000 params max
)
// Performance tuning
->setSlowQueryThreshold(2.0) // Log queries >2s
->setIdleTimeout(1500) // Close idle connections after 25min
->enableAutoScaling(true) // Auto-scale based on load
// Dependencies (optional)
->setLogger($monolog)
->setLock($redisLock)
// Metadata (for monitoring)
->setApplicationName('myapp')
->setTimezone('Europe/Rome');$config = PoolConfig::fromArray([
'driver' => 'pgsql',
'host' => 'localhost',
'port' => 5432,
'database' => 'myapp',
'username' => 'postgres',
'password' => 'secret',
'min_connections' => 10,
'max_connections' => 100,
'ssl' => true,
'ssl_verify' => true,
'ssl_ca' => '/path/to/ca.pem',
]);$config = PoolConfig::fromDsn(
'pgsql:host=localhost;port=5432;dbname=myapp',
'postgres',
'secret',
['maxConnections' => 100]
);Automatically detects and binds correct PDO types (boolean, integer, null, string). Essential for PostgreSQL/MySQL compatibility.
$pool = new DatabasePool($config);
$pdo = $pool->getConnection();
// Type-aware binding (no manual PDO::PARAM_* needed)
$stmt = $pool->executeQuery($pdo, '
INSERT INTO users (is_active, age, name, bio)
VALUES (:is_active, :age, :name, :bio)
', [
'is_active' => true, // Auto-detected as PARAM_BOOL
'age' => 25, // Auto-detected as PARAM_INT
'name' => 'John', // Auto-detected as PARAM_STR
'bio' => null, // Auto-detected as PARAM_NULL
]);Cache SELECT query results in Redis/Memcached for massive performance gains.
// Setup Redis cache
$redis = new \Redis();
$redis->connect('127.0.0.1', 6379);
$pool->setQueryCache($redis);
// Execute cached query
$stmt = $pool->executeQuery($pdo, 'SELECT * FROM products WHERE category_id = ?', [123], [
'cache' => true, // Enable caching
'cache_ttl' => 300, // Cache for 5 minutes
]);
// Second request = instant (Redis cache hit)Pre-create connections on application boot to eliminate cold start latency.
$pool = new DatabasePool($config);
// Warmup 10 connections (recommended after deployment)
$created = $pool->warmup(10);
// First user request = instant (connections already created)Integrate with external monitoring systems for real-time metrics.
// New Relic integration
$pool->addMonitoringHook(function($metrics) {
if (extension_loaded('newrelic')) {
newrelic_custom_metric('Database/QueryTime', $metrics['duration_ms']);
newrelic_custom_metric('Database/SlowQueries', $metrics['slow_queries']);
}
});
// Datadog integration
$pool->addMonitoringHook(function($metrics) use ($statsd) {
$statsd->timing('database.query.duration', $metrics['duration_ms']);
$statsd->increment('database.queries.total');
$statsd->gauge('database.pool.active', $metrics['active_connections']);
});
// Custom metrics
$pool->addMonitoringHook(function($metrics) {
file_put_contents('/var/log/db-metrics.log', json_encode($metrics) . PHP_EOL, FILE_APPEND);
});Automatic retry with exponential backoff on transient failures (network hiccups, temporary DB overload).
// Configured automatically (3 retries with exponential backoff)
// Retry 1: 100ms delay
// Retry 2: 200ms delay
// Retry 3: 400ms delay
$pool = new DatabasePool($config);
$pdo = $pool->getConnection(); // Auto-retries on failure
// Check metrics
$metrics = $pool->getMetrics();
echo "Connection retries: {$metrics['connection_retries']}";Automatically rolls back uncommitted transactions when connections are released. Prevents data corruption and state leakage.
$pdo = $pool->getConnection();
$pdo->beginTransaction();
$pdo->exec('UPDATE accounts SET balance = balance - 100 WHERE id = 1');
// Developer forgets to commit/rollback
unset($pdo); // Connection released
// AUTOMATIC ROLLBACK HAPPENS HERE
// No data corruption! Transaction rolled back safely.
$metrics = $pool->getMetrics();
echo "Auto-rollbacks: {$metrics['transaction_rollbacks']}";$config = (new PoolConfig())
->enableSsl(
verify: true, // Verify server certificate
required: true, // Fail if SSL not available
ca: '/path/to/ca.pem'
)
->setSslCertificate(
'/path/to/client.crt',
'/path/to/client.key'
);$config = (new PoolConfig())
->setQueryLimits(
maxSize: 1048576, // 1MB max query (prevents memory exhaustion)
maxParams: 1000 // Max 1000 params (prevents parameter bombing)
);Automatically opens after threshold failures, preventing cascade failures:
try {
$pdo = $pool->getConnection();
} catch (CircuitBreakerOpenException $e) {
// Circuit breaker is open
// Retry after $e->getTimeout() seconds
sleep(20);
$pdo = $pool->getConnection();
}Without pooling:
- 10,000 requests = 10,000 new connections
- Connection time: 10-50ms each
- Total overhead: 100-500 seconds
With pooling:
- 10,000 requests = 50 pooled connections (reused)
- Connection time: 10-50ms Γ 50 = 0.5-2.5 seconds
- Total overhead: 0.5-2.5 seconds (100-200x faster!)
Pool automatically scales based on demand:
Load Low (0-20%) β 10 connections
Load Med (20-50%) β 30 connections (1.5x scale)
Load High (50-80%) β 50 connections (1.5x scale)
Load Peak (80%+) β 100 connections (2x scale)
Hardware: 4-core CPU, 16GB RAM, PostgreSQL 17
| Metric | Without Pool | With Pool | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Response time | 150ms | 15ms | 10x faster |
| Throughput | 100 req/s | 1,000 req/s | 10x more |
| Concurrent users | 1,000 | 10,000+ | 10x capacity |
| CPU usage | 80% | 40% | 50% reduction |
use Senza1dio\DatabasePool\Adapters\Locks\RedisLock;
$redis = new Redis();
$redis->connect('localhost', 6379);
$config = (new PoolConfig())
// ... other config
->setLock(new RedisLock($redis, 'myapp:pool:'));
$pool = new DatabasePool($config);use Senza1dio\DatabasePool\Adapters\Loggers\Psr3LoggerAdapter;
use Monolog\Logger;
use Monolog\Handler\StreamHandler;
$logger = new Logger('database');
$logger->pushHandler(new StreamHandler('php://stdout'));
$config = (new PoolConfig())
// ... other config
->setLogger(new Psr3LoggerAdapter($logger));
$pool = new DatabasePool($config);
// Slow queries, errors, circuit breaker events logged automatically$stats = $pool->getStats();
/*
[
'total_connections' => 50,
'active_connections' => 20,
'idle_connections' => 30,
'total_queries' => 10000,
'slow_queries' => 5,
'circuit_breaker_state' => 'closed',
'pool_hits' => 9950, // Reused connections
'pool_misses' => 50, // New connections created
]
*/| Feature | senza1dio/database-pool | Laravel DB | Doctrine DBAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connection pooling | β Yes | β No | β No |
| Circuit breaker | β Yes | β No | β No |
| Auto-scaling | β Yes | β No | β No |
| SSL/TLS enforcement | β Yes | ||
| DoS protection | β Yes | β No | β No |
| Auto-release connections | β Yes | ||
| Multi-database | β PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite | β Many | β Many |
| Framework agnostic | β Yes | β Laravel only | |
| Production-ready | β Yes | - | - |
All 32 tests passed - See TESTING_RESULTS.md for complete report.
| Test Suite | Tests | Status | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production Integration | 10/10 | β PASS | PostgreSQL 17, MySQL 8, Circuit Breaker, Auto-scaling |
| Laravel Integration | 7/7 | β PASS | DI container, Singleton pattern, HTTP endpoints |
| Transaction Safety | 6/6 | β PASS | COMMIT, ROLLBACK, SELECT FOR UPDATE, Isolation |
| Multi-Process Concurrency | 5/5 | β PASS | 50 concurrent processes, Pool exhaustion, Memory leaks |
| E-commerce Scenarios | 4/4 | β PASS | Atomic checkout, Failed payment rollback, Overselling prevention |
| Test | With Pool | Without Pool | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| PostgreSQL (100 queries) | 0.1544s | 0.9987s | 6.47x faster |
| Laravel DI (100 queries) | 0.0854s | 0.6824s | 7.99x faster |
| Laravel HTTP (100 queries) | 0.1155s | 0.6441s | 5.58x faster |
β Successful checkout - Inventory check β payment β order (all atomic) β Failed checkout rollback - Payment fails β complete ROLLBACK (no data corruption) β Concurrent checkout prevention - SELECT FOR UPDATE prevents overselling β Multi-item cart - 3 products, $3999.96 total, all steps atomic
Read full report: TESTING_RESULTS.md
Contributions welcome! Please:
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch
- Add tests for new features
- Run
composer check(PHPStan + Tests + CS-Fixer) - Submit a pull request
MIT License. See LICENSE file.
- Issues: GitHub Issues
- Discussions: GitHub Discussions
- Email: senza1dio@gmail.com
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