What's the best way to manage database isolation for a multi-school system using Laravel?

[maaz-arabsea]

What's the best way to manage database isolation for a multi-school system using Laravel?

[Syed-Sabeer]

To build a multi-tenant school management system with Laravel, you have two main options:

Single Database with Tenant ID (Simple Multi-tenancy)

All schools share one DB.

Each table includes a school_id column to separate data.

Easier to maintain but less scalable.

Multiple Databases (True Isolation — Best for SaaS)

Each school gets its own database.

Use Laravel's tenancy/tenancy or stancl/tenancy package.

Auto-switch database connections based on domain or school slug.

Benefits of Multi-DB:

Better data isolation

Easier backups and migrations

Safer in terms of data leaks

Bonus Tip:
Store all school metadata in a central DB (central.schools) to route requests to the appropriate database dynamically.

[ankit-webmavens]

@maaz-arabsea Use multi-tenancy with separate databases per school for strong isolation.
Use packages like tenancy/tenancy or stancl/tenancy, which handle automatic DB switching, migrations, and model scoping.
This ensures data separation, security, and scalability for each school.
and easy to use.

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[santoshnaya]

To build a multi-tenant school management system with Laravel, you can choose between two core strategies based on your scalability and isolation needs:

1. Single Database with Tenant ID (Simple Multi-tenancy)
   This approach stores all schools' data in one database.
   Each table includes a school_id column to differentiate tenants.
   It’s straightforward to set up and easy to maintain.
   However, it becomes harder to manage at scale and has weaker data isolation.
   Best suited for smaller platforms or internal systems.

2. Multiple Databases (True Isolation — Ideal for SaaS Platforms)
   Each school has its own dedicated database.
   Packages like stancl/tenancy or tenancy/tenancy handle dynamic database switching based on subdomain, domain, or school slug.
   This method provides clean separation of data per school, making backups, migrations, and scaling far more manageable.
   It also drastically reduces the risk of cross-tenant data leakage.

Bonus Tip:
Use a central database (e.g., central.schools) to store metadata for each tenant.
This acts as the control hub to resolve tenant databases dynamically during runtime and manage configurations, domains, or billing centrally.