Why it matters

Bad schema is #1 HBase failure. Understanding shapes design decisions.

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The architecture

Row key: composite with hot access pattern first.

Column families: 1-3 typical; group by access pattern + TTL.

Schema design elementsRow key designcomposite, salted, etcColumn familiesgrouped by accessVersioningTTL + max versionsDesign for query pattern; get it right up front — very hard to change
Schema decisions.
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How it works end to end

Access patterns: design row key for primary query pattern.

Composite key: 'salt|user|timestamp' balances distribution + range.

Reversed timestamp: newest first order.

CF choice: many families hurt compaction; consolidate.