What Is Sharding? How Does It Work
The extensive use of blockchain technology, which includes supply chain management and financial transactions, has increased interest in blockchain, thereby driving massive traffic and congestion. As a result, Blockchain developers are experimenting with several techniques to tackle this issue. Sharding has evolved as a solution to the scalability and congestion issues in many blockchain networks.
This digest will fill you in on what Sharding means and how it works.
What is Sharding?
Sharding is a technique used in distributing the computational and data workload across a network so that each node in a blockchain network isn’t overworked.
In simple terms, Sharding means splitting an entire blockchain network into smaller portions, known as ‘shards.’ The process involves each shard having its own distinct data. For example, one shard might store token data, while another might serve the network’s governance.
It’s important to note that while these shards are independent of each other, data can still be shared around other nodes. This does not only improve the network’s Security but also makes it more decentralized — since every node can still view every data entry without processing and retaining every piece of information. It also reduces latency.
How does Sharding work
To understand the concept of Sharding, you need to know the importance of nodes. Simply put, blockchain nodes handle all the network’s transaction data. The decentralized nodes also store information such as account balances and transaction history. So overall, this means the functionality of a network depends on how each node processes network operations, data, and transactions.
Furthermore, while this concept guarantees security and decentralization, it slows down transaction processing methods and compromises scalability and latency. On the other hand, Sharding breaks down the blockchain network, essentially reducing the strain on each node.
Horizontal Partitioning (Sharding)
Databases can be horizontally partitioned by dividing them into rows to implement Sharding. The rows are given the name “shards.” Horizontal partitioning in blockchain sharding helps in breaking large databases into smaller pieces. The pieces retain the features of the larger database and perform even more efficiently.
Benefits of Sharding
One of the main benefits of Sharding is improved scalability. Since each data is distributed across different shards, providing increased throughput, the network can handle a large number of transactions. Other benefits of Sharding include:
- Increased storage capacity: an increase in the number of shards available means an increase in the storage capacity of the network.
- Better Security: with multiple shards, it’s possible to prioritize sensitive data and apply more stringent security measures to them.
- Transparency: since each shard is a replica set, and information is shared, even if a whole shard is not available, the network as a whole remains functional.
Closing thoughts
The importance of splitting a complete blockchain network into multiple shards, which then offer improved scalability without compromising Security, cannot be overemphasized. Some projects are already applying Sharding including Ethereum Beacon Chain, Parachain Polkadot, and NEAR Sharding.
However, Sharding also suffers a number of drawbacks, including high infrastructure costs, query overhead, and more.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the writer and not of this platform.
Click here to download it for iOS or Android
Website: https://lbank.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LBank_Exchange
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LBank.info/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LBankExchange
Telegram: https://t.me/LBank_en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lbank
Medium: https://medium.com/LBank
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/LBank2021/
