Scaling Patterns: Your Guide to Vertical, Horizontal & Functional Sharding

How to Scale Your Database and Infrastructure: Master Vertical, Horizontal, and Functional Sharding Patterns.

Introduction

Think of your application like a restaurant. When more customers arrive, you have three choices: get a bigger kitchen (vertical), open multiple locations (horizontal), or specialize each location for different cuisines (functional sharding). Let’s explore how these strategies work in the tech world.