Choosing the Right Shard Key for Efficiently Distributing Postgres with Citus

Explore the critical role of the "Distribution Column" (shard key) in Citus's distributed PostgreSQL tables through Sai Srirampur's talk at Citus Con 2022. Learn about various criteria for selecting an optimal shard key, including workload type, table sizes, column cardinality, and commonality across tables. Discover an organized approach to choosing the right distribution column for PostgreSQL database workloads, illustrated with real-world examples. Gain insights into potential tools for heuristically assessing shard key criteria and automatically predicting optimal choices. Delve into building highly scalable apps with Citus, focusing on multi-tenant SaaS, real-time operational analytics, and high-throughput transactional applications. Conclude with a Q&A session exploring further aspects of efficient Postgres distribution using Citus.

Introduction.
What is Citus?.
What is a distribution column & why is it important?.
3 steps to building highly scalable apps with Citus.
Multi-tenant SaaS apps.
Real-time operational analytics apps.
High throughput transactional apps.
Exploring automation of choosing the right shard key.
Q&A with Sai & Marco.