Laravel search engine

php mysql search laravel elasticsearch

I was solving the same issues recently.My opinions:

1. no. definitely keep your DB for storing data. ES wasn't built to replace your database. it is (mostly) search engine.

4. you can find nice tutorial here: http://www.fullstackstanley.com/read/simple-search-with-laravel-and-elasticsearch (as a starting point).
I suggest you to read also http://www.elasticsearch.org/guide/en/elasticsearch/guide/ (to understand ES better)