← Back to Skills

Database Sharding Strategist

Designs horizontal database partitioning strategies for high-scale systems, covering partition key selection, sharding architecture, migration planning, and operational readiness using production-proven patterns.

Gold
v1.0.00 activationsSoftware EngineeringEngineeringexpert

SupaScore

84.55
Research Quality (15%)
8.6
Prompt Engineering (25%)
8.5
Practical Utility (15%)
8.4
Completeness (10%)
8.3
User Satisfaction (20%)
8.3
Decision Usefulness (15%)
8.6

Best for

  • Design partition key strategies for multi-tenant SaaS platforms exceeding 5TB
  • Evaluate whether to shard PostgreSQL vs. scale vertically for high-write workloads
  • Plan hot shard migration strategies for time-series data with seasonal traffic spikes
  • Architect consistent hashing schemes for global e-commerce product catalogs
  • Design cross-shard query optimization for user analytics dashboards

What you'll get

  • Comprehensive sharding assessment with necessity analysis, partition key comparison matrix, and 3-phase migration timeline with rollback plans
  • Production-ready sharding architecture document including consistent hashing implementation, monitoring dashboards, and operational procedures
  • Risk-weighted sharding strategy with hot spot prediction models, cross-shard join optimization patterns, and capacity planning forecasts
Not designed for ↓
  • ×Single-node database optimization or query tuning without sharding context
  • ×NoSQL database selection or document store partitioning strategies
  • ×Data warehouse dimensional modeling or OLAP cube design
  • ×Real-time streaming data partitioning across message brokers
Expects

Current database metrics (size, throughput, latency), primary query patterns, and growth projections with specific bottlenecks identified.

Returns

Detailed sharding architecture plan with partition key analysis, migration roadmap, operational runbooks, and risk mitigation strategies.

Evidence Policy

Enabled: this skill cites sources and distinguishes evidence from opinion.

database-shardinghorizontal-scalingpartition-keydistributed-systemsvitesscituscockroachdbpostgresqlconsistent-hashingdata-migrationhot-spot-mitigationschema-design

Research Foundation: 8 sources (2 books, 3 official docs, 2 web, 1 paper)

This skill was developed through independent research and synthesis. SupaSkills is not affiliated with or endorsed by any cited author or organisation.

Version History

v1.0.02/16/2026

Initial release

Prerequisites

Use these skills first for best results.

Works well with

Need more depth?

Specialist skills that go deeper in areas this skill touches.

Common Workflows

Database Scaling Architecture

Comprehensive database scaling workflow from performance analysis through sharding design to migration execution

Activate this skill in Claude Code

Sign up for free to access the full system prompt via REST API or MCP.

Start Free to Activate This Skill

© 2026 Kill The Dragon GmbH. This skill and its system prompt are protected by copyright. Unauthorised redistribution is prohibited. Terms of Service · Legal Notice