Table of Contents
Hashed Shard Keys: Even Distribution, Random Access
Ranged Shard Keys: Ordered Data, Targeted Queries
Choosing Between Them: Know Your Query Patterns
Home Database MongoDB What are hashed shard keys versus ranged shard keys, and their respective use cases?

What are hashed shard keys versus ranged shard keys, and their respective use cases?

Jul 18, 2025 am 02:13 AM
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Choosing a hash shard key or a range shard key depends on the query mode and data distribution requirements. The hash shard key achieves uniform data distribution through a hash algorithm, which is suitable for scenarios with high write load and avoiding hot spots, but the range query efficiency is low; 1. Suitable for applications with write extensions and no obvious range query. Range shard keys are based on key-value sequential distribution of data, suitable for scenarios where range queries (such as time intervals) are frequently performed; 2. Support efficient data subset scanning, but may lead to uneven data distribution and hot issues. 3. If the application mainly uses insert and has a small range query, select the hash shard key; if range filtering is often performed, select the range shard key. In addition, composite shard keys can also be considered to take into account multiple access modes.

What are hashed shard keys versus ranged shard keys, and their respective use cases?

When deciding between hashed shard keys and ranged shard keys in a sharded database like MongoDB, the main difference lies in how data is distributed across shards — and that has a big impact on performance and query patterns.

Hashed Shard Keys: Even Distribution, Random Access

A hashed shard key uses a hash of the actual key value to determine which shard a document goes to. This ensures an even distribution of data across all available shards, especially when the original key has a sequential nature (like timestamps or auto-incrementing IDs).

Use cases:

  • When you want to avoid write hotspots.
  • For workloads with high insert or update volume.
  • If your queries don't usually target specific ranges of the key.

One thing to note is that while writes are spread out nicely, range-based queries (eg, "find all records from last week") may end up hitting every shard, which can be slower than with a ranged key.

Ranged Shard Keys: Ordered Data, Targeted Queries

Ranged shard keys distributed data based on the natural order of the key values. Documents with similar key values end up close together on the same or neary shards.

Use cases:

  • When most queries target a specific range (eg, time-based queries).
  • If you need efficient scans over a subset of data.
  • When chunk migrations stay manageable due to predictable growth.

This setup works well for time-series data where you often query recent entries. But it can lead to uneven distribution if your data grows mostly at one end (like ever-increasing timestamps), which can cause hotspots.

Choosing Between Them: Know Your Query Patterns

Here's what to think about:

  • Write scaling : Hashed keys help balance inserts across shards.
  • Query efficiency : Ranged keys allow more targeted queries.
  • Data growth pattern : Increased values can overload a single chunk with ranged keys.
  • Hotspots : Sequential inserts with ranged keys can create bottlenecks.

If your app does a lot of inserts and doesn't rely heavily on range queries, go with hashed. If your queries often filter by a range (like date ranges or numeric ranges), then a ranged shard key might give better performance.

It's also possible to use a compound shard key — combining both hashed and other fields — but that's more advanced and depends heavily on your specific access patterns.

Basically that's it.

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