by addicted May 13, 2005
Get the Shardmug. Splitting a database into several pieces, usually to improve the speed and reliability of your application.
Sharding strictly speaking is a synonym for "horizontal partitioning" or dividing up a database table by its rows.
In common use, sharding refers to having some data for an app on one database server, and other data in another. Often this is done by having specific tables hosted on specific servers, with a function determining which server contains the information being requested.
Sharding is frequently discussed with regard to large web based applications, but is not limited to any particular industry.
As a practical example, a WordPress MultiSite installation hosting several hundred thousand blogs could have the tables for sites 1-100,000 running on one database server 100,001-200,000 on another or 200,001+ on a third. An alternative sharding implementation could be to have the 50 busiest blogs' tables split between the first two servers all remaining blog data on the third server. Likewise, data could be partitioned based upon the geographic location of the web servers delivering each blog.
Sharding strictly speaking is a synonym for "horizontal partitioning" or dividing up a database table by its rows.
In common use, sharding refers to having some data for an app on one database server, and other data in another. Often this is done by having specific tables hosted on specific servers, with a function determining which server contains the information being requested.
Sharding is frequently discussed with regard to large web based applications, but is not limited to any particular industry.
As a practical example, a WordPress MultiSite installation hosting several hundred thousand blogs could have the tables for sites 1-100,000 running on one database server 100,001-200,000 on another or 200,001+ on a third. An alternative sharding implementation could be to have the 50 busiest blogs' tables split between the first two servers all remaining blog data on the third server. Likewise, data could be partitioned based upon the geographic location of the web servers delivering each blog.
When our site became so popular it kept overwhelming our database servers, we looked into sharding the database between five different data centers.
by Brian Layman June 20, 2011
Get the shardingmug. by Tyler Durden January 31, 2004
Get the shardedmug. n. slang for crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive and muscle-deteriorating drug usually snorted into the nose in crystalline "shards"
My friend did shards for a couple months, then spent over a year in rehab. Lesson here: don't do 'em.
by hyperexcel June 17, 2003
Get the shardsmug. A piece of crystal meth, a psychedelic stimulant, named for the shard-like crystals. Has nothing to do with shitting in your pants while farting, that's shart.
by Colder May 7, 2011
Get the Shardmug. have you seen old mate nah last time I saw him he was on the shard hard in some ice den sucking on his sweat puff pippy getting treated like a ice clown
by Ice shard March 27, 2019
Get the shardmug. How fucking retarded people say "sharted" which is a mixture of the words shit and fart. The people who say sharded are just the kinds of people who say "libery" and "amblance".
Retard: "Yo that dude just totally sharded!"
Person who understands how words work: "You mean 'sharted'?"
Person who understands how words work: "You mean 'sharted'?"
by babykiller111 November 15, 2010
Get the Shardedmug.