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Reference.org
Shard (database architecture)
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<p>A database shard, or simply a shard, is a <a href="/facts/Partition_(database)/2cKcwmXW">horizontal partition</a> of data in a <a href="/facts/DBMS/VYcpkevb">database</a> or <a href="/facts/Search_engine/SRntsbz2">search engine</a>. Each shard may be held on a separate <a href="/facts/Database_server/PYG7xdqq">database server</a> instance, to spread load. </p><p>Some data in a database remains present in all shards, but some appears only in a single shard. Each shard acts as the single source for this subset of data. </p>