Databases & SQL

Sharding

/ˈʃɑːdɪŋ/

Definition

Horizontally partitioning a database by splitting rows across multiple servers based on a shard key.

Example in context

"We shard by user_id modulo 8 — each of the 8 shard servers handles one segment of the user base."

Related terms

Practice this term

Master Sharding in context by working through exercises in the Databases & SQL module. You'll see the term used in real engineering scenarios with multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and matching drills.