What is the difference between sharding and partitioning?

Question

Accepted Answer

**Sharding** — horizontal partitioning across servers. **Partitioning** — dividing data.

**Sharding:**
- Split data across servers.
- Each shard on different server.
- Horizontal scaling.
- Complex queries.

```
Sharding:
Shard 1 (Server 1): Users A-M
Shard 2 (Server 2): Users N-Z
(Different servers)
```

**Partitioning:**
- Divide data within database.
- Can be horizontal or vertical.
- Same or different storage.
- Organizational.

```
Partitioning:
Partition 1: Orders 2023
Partition 2: Orders 2024
(Same database, divided data)
```

**Key differences:**
- **Sharding** — across servers.
- **Partitioning** — within database.
- **Sharding** — scaling.
- **Partitioning** — organization.

Systems Analyst: What is the difference between sharding and partitioning?