tech-matrix

MONOPOLY — Technology Decision Matrix

When to Use

• Use this skill when the task matches this description: Reference document for monopoly tech-matrix.

Table of Contents

1. Database Selection
2. Cache Selection
3. Message Queue / Event Streaming
4. API Protocol
5. Search Engine
6. Object Storage
7. Container Orchestration
8. Load Balancer
9. Observability Stack
10. CDN

---

1. Database Selection

Relational (SQL)

Database	Best For	Avoid When	Scale Ceiling
PostgreSQL	Complex queries, JSONB, GIS, strong consistency, most default use cases	Ultra-high write throughput (>100K writes/s)	~10TB single node; use Citus for horizontal
MySQL / MariaDB	Read-heavy apps, legacy systems, WordPress/Drupal ecosystem	Complex queries, full ACID at scale	~10TB; use Vitess for sharding
CockroachDB	Global distributed SQL, geo-partitioning, multi-region	Simple single-region apps (overkill)	Petabyte-scale
PlanetScale	MySQL-compatible, serverless, branch-based workflow	Complex JOINs (foreign keys removed by design)	Very high — Vitess based
Amazon Aurora	AWS-native apps, managed PostgreSQL/MySQL, high availability	Non-AWS environments	Up to 128TB, 15 replicas

NoSQL

Database	Best For	Avoid When	Scale Ceiling