How Do I Choose a Good Shard Key and Avoid Hotspots (Bucketing and Key Randomization)?

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How Do I Choose a Good Shard Key and Avoid Hotspots (Bucketing and Key Randomization)?

A shard key is the attribute used to partition data in a sharded database, and a good shard key evenly distributes data and load across all shards to prevent any single shard from becoming a hotspot.

What is a Shard Key and Why It Matters

A shard key (sometimes called a partition key) determines how data is split among the shards (servers) in a distributed database. It’s essentially the “address” that the system uses to decide which shard stores a given piece of data.

Choosing the right shard key is critical because it affects performance, [scalability](https://www

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