Index: src/docbkx/book.xml =================================================================== --- src/docbkx/book.xml (revision 1181299) +++ src/docbkx/book.xml (working copy) @@ -593,6 +593,27 @@ +
Schema Design Smackdown + This section will describe common schema design questions that appear on the dist-list. These are + general guidelines and not laws - each application must consider it's own needs. + +
Rows vs. Versions + A common question is whether one should prefer rows or HBase's built-in-versioning. The context is typically where there are + "a lot" of versions of a row to be retained (e.g., where it is significantly above the HBase default of 3 max versions). The + rows-approach would require storing a timstamp in some portion of the rowkey so that they would not overwite with each successive update. + + Winner: Rows (generally speaking). + +
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Rows vs. Columns + Another common question is whether one should prefer rows or columns. The context is typically in extreme cases of wide + tables, such as having 1 row with 1 million attributes, or 1 million rows with 1 columns apiece. + + Winner: Rows (generally speaking). To be clear, this guideline is in the context is in extremely wide cases, not where + one needs to store a few dozen or hundred columns. + +
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