4d ago · 9 min read · Sharding splits one massive database into smaller independent ones. Uber built Schemaless in 2014 — 4096 shards on top of MySQL — to survive explosive growth. Here's everything you need to know as a b
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Mar 12 · 13 min read · TLDR: Sharding means splitting one logical dataset across multiple physical databases so no single node carries all the data and traffic. The hard part is not adding more nodes. The hard part is choosing a shard key that keeps data balanced and queri...
Join discussionFeb 25 · 7 min read · In the previous two articles, we saw something important: To scale reads, we reduce the work the database does per query. [LINK] To scale writes, we reduce the work the database does per insert. [LINK] But what happens when a system has both heavy ...
Join discussionFeb 12 · 11 min read · Why Traditional Scaling Approaches Fail at Modern Scale Vertical scaling—adding more CPU, RAM, and faster storage to a single database server—hits hard limits around 96-128 cores and a few terabytes of RAM. Cloud providers offer increasingly powerful...
Join discussionFeb 12 · 7 min read · Database Sharding: Horizontal Partitioning Strategies Understanding Database Sharding in Modern Distributed Systems As applications scale beyond single-server capabilities, database sharding emerges as a critical horizontal partitioning strategy. Whi...
Join discussionJan 29 · 2 min read · Shard means a small part of the whole, i.e., sharding is a process of dividing a database into smaller data partitions called shards. These shards are not only smaller, but they are also easier to manage, store, and query. Each shard typically holds ...
Join discussionDec 18, 2025 · 7 min read · How we cut infrastructure costs by 71% while improving query performance, with lessons on sharding, caching, and AI-assisted optimization slug: scaling-mongodb-6-billion-documents-ovh Managing a database with billions of records isn't just about havi...
Join discussionNov 22, 2025 · 5 min read · To truly understand Elasticsearch or OpenSearch, you must understand shards. They dictate your cluster’s performance, reliability, scalability, and even cost. Without grasping how shards are stored and balanced, you can’t master the system. This post...
Join discussionOct 23, 2025 · 19 min read · 1. Concepts & Terminology First let’s define terms clearly (so we avoid sloppy use of “sharding = partitioning” confusion). 1.1 Partitioning Partitioning means dividing a large table (or set of tables) into smaller, more manageable pieces (“partition...
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