I run a high-volume stock photography website built on Laravel. We currently have 800,000+ images in our database, and the library is growing daily. Our current search functionality is critically slow. When a user searches for a keyword (e.g., "House"), it takes approximately 9 seconds for the server to return the results. This appears to be a database/query bottleneck (likely full table scans) rather than a connection issue. I need the search query time reduced to under 1 second (ideally instantaneous). Technical Environment: Framework: Laravel (Latest Stable). Server: Dedicated Server (USA based). Specs: 16GB RAM, 4 CPU Cores, 8 Threads. Database: MySQL / MariaDB. Storage: Images are stored on Backblaze B2 (Note: This project is strictly about fixing the database search speed, not the image loading speed). Scope of Work: Audit: Analyze the current Laravel query logic and database structure. Optimization Strategy: Propose the best architecture to handle 800k+ rows on my specific server hardware. You have full freedom to suggest the best method (e.g., Implementing a dedicated search engine, advanced caching layers, or optimizing MySQL indexes). Implementation: Set up and configure the chosen solution on the live server. Integration: Refactor the Laravel code to use the new optimized search logic. Scalability: Ensure the solution will remain fast as we grow to 2 million+ images. Requirements: Expert-level knowledge of Laravel optimization and database indexing. Proven experience handling datasets of 500,000+ rows. Strong understanding of Linux server management (to configure any necessary services on the dedicated machine). Experience with caching mechanisms (Redis, etc.).