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[notblox1]

Sharding is a hot topic for many blockchain projects.
There are many questions around this subject, and all connected with scalability.
One of the biggest project and developers working on sharding is Ethereum.
Sharding is still in test phase in many projects.
One alternative for Sharding is off-chain transactions.

What is Sharding?

Sharding is one of the scaling strategies for any apps. Within the strategy, the information from the general database is divided into blocks and spread to various servers, which are called shards. The process of using this strategy is called sharding. Sometimes you can meet the term “partitioning” – this is a part of sharding. So is called the process of the database dividing before bringing to the separate servers.

The data sharding is divided into vertical and horizontal. It is connected with the fact that the database presented a table initially. If you divide the table into vertical columns (the title and all data below), then it is the vertical sharding. If you divide the table into lines (the titles of all columns and the table parts under it), it is the horizontal sharding. Anyway, then the table parts (i.e. the databases) go to different servers.

https://en.bitcoinwiki.org/wiki/Sharding

Difficulties of the blockchain sharding introduction

There is no mechanism that can track which node process the transaction. A safe and effective mechanism is necessary, which will quickly and safely work in the blockchain. There is no developed trust algorithm between the nodes to let them trust each other. In the cryptocurrency blockchain, the nodes do not have the right to simply trust each other – they must come to the independent consensus. A confirmation of the fact that both nodes finished the processing process is also needed. The sharding can be effectively implemented in the blockchains with the Proof-of-stake algorithm (full or partial), and now the scalability problem is faced mostly by the cryptocurrencies with the Proof-of-work algorithm.

What is sharding? (1 minute video):
https://youtu.be/WI6pE5nFeFI


www.harmony.one

List of know projects that are working on Sharding
- Ethereum
- Ziliqa
- Harmony
- Elrond
- Fleta
- Quarkchain
- Multivac
- Algorand
- Kadena
- Polkadot
- Apollo

[Phoenix_PROG]

I know sharing through Apollo currency on 2018, this is the first time I heard about this feature and I don't even know that it's present in ethereum blockchain, thanks for sharing this

[notblox1]

Not sure about Apollo, or any other project, and I am not supporting any specific sharding implementation.
I would like to see more information comparison so please post if you have it.
Stages of development would also be good to see, and I can't find that,

[Ucy]

I don't really know much about the sharding but I wonder if it means nobody (or few) will be running full node?  Having a piece of Blockchain on a device without the whole doesn't sound really decentralized to me. What happens if some pieces disappear from the network? The network is completely affected and everyone suffers?
Guess a better model is to have multiple customizable blockchains of different sizes acting as a single unit  (Ethereum). Something like this:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5224657.msg53809244#msg53809244 ?

[notblox1]

In fact Ethereum is working on sharding, and you should check it out if you don't know about it.
Even now very few people run Bitcoin or Ethereum full nodes.
Sharding does not mean you will not run full node.


Video: https://youtu.be/7-WoVbwTmEc

[nicecrypto]

@OP I think the correct spelling is Zillqa not zillqua, having said that, I think sharding is an important feature in crypto in recent times, and i also meant to understand there are different form of sharding,  if you read about the project like Apollo currency, the sharding of this project is different from that of Zillqa, and I think zilliqa is first project to have this sharding

Here is a little explanation from zilliqa about sharding

 Sharding in Practice:
Our unique application of sharding allows the blockchain to scale in a linear fashion. This ensures that the Zilliqa platform can scale to meet the needs of a growing ecosystem of miners and applications.