GlossaryAdvanced
Sharding
Splitting a network's data and workload across multiple smaller parts to increase capacity.
Sharding is a scaling approach that splits a blockchain's data and transaction processing across multiple parallel segments, called shards, instead of requiring every node to process every transaction.
The goal is to increase a network's overall transaction capacity while still allowing individual nodes to operate without needing to store or verify the entire network's data alone.
Examples
- Sharding is one of several approaches networks explore to increase transaction throughput.
- A sharded network still needs a way to coordinate and secure communication between shards.