Playbooks

Choose a layout

Data is about to be stored: row, columnar, PAX (columns within row groups) or key-value? Six questions, from the storage medium to the share of columns each query touches.

Choose a mutation strategy

Stored data changes: update in place, rewrite whole files (copy-on-write), or write changes separately and merge on read with delete vectors or equality deletes? Four questions, then the compaction interval and the metric that predicts failure.

Choose a clustering strategy

Rows can be physically ordered so queries skip most files: a single sort key, Z-order across a few dimensions, bucketing for joins, or no clustering at all? Two questions, then the checks that decide whether it pays its rent.

Measure your medium

Before choosing any block, page or file size: measure your storage's latency, bandwidth and achievable concurrency, then derive the minimum efficient request and the queue depth your reads need.