Techniques To Use To Improve Scalability In Apache AGE
Published: 2023-10-11 10:27:11

When choosing a database one should considered if the platform has the ability to scale and if its able to scale what are the recommend techniques to improve scalability in that particular platform.In this article we are going to define what is scalability in graph database and what are the  best techniques that can be used to improve scalability in Apache Age as our desired graph database platform.

We will start off by defining what is scalability in graph database .

**What is scalability in graph databases?**
Scalability in graph databases refers to the ability of a database system to handle growing amounts of data and increased workloads while maintaining performance and efficiency. 

Some of the techniques that can be used in Apache Age include:

**Data Modelling Optimization**
Data modelling optimization is the process of  designing and implementing a data model i.e design the data schema and relationships to improve the performance and scalability of your graph database.

to be able to improve scalability through data modelling optimization one has to mare sure that :

**Use the right data types** -ensure you choose the right data type for each piece of data in that this will ensure that your data is stored and processed efficiently.

**Avoid complex queries** - simplify complex queries into simpler queries that can be processed easily this is because complex queries can be slow and inefficient.

**Partitioning and Indexing**

Partitioning your data can help improve query performance by dividing the data into smaller, more manageable chunks. This makes it easier for Apache AGE to process queries on large datasets, as it can focus on specific partitions rather than scanning the entire dataset.

Indexing involves creating data structures that allow Apache AGE to quickly locate specific data items. This can improve query performance by reducing the amount of data that needs to be scanned. Apache AGE supports a variety of index types, including vertex indexes, edge indexes, and property indexes.

to be able to use partitioning and indexing as scalability technique in Apache Age we should first create a schema for your graph. The schema defines the different types of vertices and edges in your graph, as well as the properties of each vertex and edge.

Once you have created a schema, you can use the CREATE TABLE statement to create a new graph table. When creating the table, you can specify how the data should be partitioned and indexed. This will help in create a separate partition for each data and allow Apache AGE to then be able to focus on the specific partition that contains the data that is being queried.

**Horizontal Scaling(Sharding)**
Sharding is the technique for horizontally scaling a graph database by distributing the data across multiple nodes.

Apache Age supports horizontal scaling to improve scalability  through the citus extension for postgresql . Citus provides a distributed database architecture that can shard tables across multiple nodes.Citus can improve query performance and accommodate larger datasets.

To be able to implement horizontal scaling in Apache Age first we will have to setup and configure citus extension.After citus has been configured you can run the following query to start of scaling in your Apache Age graph

```
-- Enable Citus extension
CREATE EXTENSION citus;
-- Distribute vertex and edge tables
SELECT create_distributed_table('vertex_label', 'id');
SELECT create_distributed_table('edge_label', 'id');

```
This query above will create a sharded graph table,which  you can query it using the regular Apache AGE syntax and citus will automatically route the query to the appropriate nodes and combine the results.


**Conclusion**
There are various techniques to improve scalability in Apache Age but to get the best scalability strategy it will all depend  on the specific requirements and characteristics of your application.So understanding these scalability techniques will enable developers and administrators to deploy and maintain robust graph databases with confidence.