Distribution Zones

This section describes GridGain 9 distribution zones. In GridGain 9, you can fine-tune distribution of your partitions on nodes for better performance and stability.

CREATE ZONE

Creates a new distribution zone.

Diagram( Terminal("CREATE ZONE"), Optional(Terminal("IF NOT EXISTS")), NonTerminal("qualified_zone_name", { href: "./grammar-reference/#qualified-zone-name" }), Optional( Sequence( Terminal("("), OneOrMore( NonTerminal("zone_parameter", { href: "./grammar-reference/#zone-parameter" }), Terminal(",") ), Terminal(")") ) ), End({ type: "complex" }) )

Diagram( Start({ type: "complex" }), Terminal("STORAGE PROFILES"), Terminal("["), OneOrMore( NonTerminal("storage_profile", { href: "./grammar-reference/#storage-profile" }), Terminal(",") ), Terminal("]"), Terminal(";") )

Keywords and parameters

IF NOT EXISTS - create a zone only if a different zone with the same name does not exist.
qualified_zone_name - a name of the distribution zone. Can be specified as a case-sensitive string or case-insensitive identifier. Does not need to exist at the moment of table creation, and can be created before writing data.
STORAGE PROFILES - Required. Comma-separated list of the profiles of the storage engines to use.
PARTITIONS - the number of partition the data is divided into. Partitions are then split between nodes for storage.
REPLICAS - the number of copies of each partition.
NODES FILTER - specifies the nodes that can be used to store data in the distribution zone based on node attributes. You can configure node attributes by using cli. Filter uses JSONPath rules. If the attribute is not found, all negative comparisons will be valid. For example, $[?(@.storage != 'SSD']} will also include nodes without the storage attribute specified.
AUTO SCALE UP - Configures automatic scaling up of the distribution zone. Possible values:
- OFF - disables the automatic distribution zone adjustment.
- integer - the delay in seconds between the new node joining and the start of distribution zone adjustment. Possible values are between 0 and 2147483647. Default value: 5.
AUTO SCALE DOWN - Configures automatic scaling down of the distribution zone. Possible values:
- OFF - disables the automatic distribution zone adjustment. Default value.
- integer - the delay in seconds between the new node joining and the start of distribution zone adjustment. Possible values are between 0 and 2147483647.
CONSISTENCY MODE - how the zone handles partition majority losses. If set to STRONG CONSISTENCY, the data will become unavailable until majority is restored (typically, this means nodes leaving and returning to the cluster). HIGH AVAILABILITY means that the data will be written and read from remaining nodes, accepting possible data loss. Default value: STRONG_CONSISTENCY.
QUORUM SIZE - the size of the majority of nodes in the consensus of a replication group. Quorum size is determined by the replica count.

Minimal value: 1 if there is only one replica and 2 if there is more than one. Maximum value: half the total number of replicas rounded up.

Default values: 3 if there are 5 and more replicas. Otherwise, the smallest of 2 and the total replica count.

Examples

Creates an exampleZone distribution zone that is specified as a case-insensitive identifier:
```
CREATE ZONE IF NOT EXISTS exampleZone STORAGE PROFILES['default'];
```
Creates a "myExampleZone" distribution zone that is specified as a case-sensitive string:
```
CREATE ZONE IF NOT EXISTS "myExampleZone" STORAGE PROFILES['default'];
```
Creates an exampleZone distribution zone that will adjust 300 seconds after cluster topology changes before adding nodes:
```
CREATE ZONE IF NOT EXISTS exampleZone (AUTO SCALE UP 300) STORAGE PROFILES['default'];
```
Creates an exampleZone distribution zone that will wait 600 seconds before scaling down any idle nodes once the cluster topology changes:
```
CREATE ZONE IF NOT EXISTS exampleZone (AUTO SCALE DOWN 600) STORAGE PROFILES['default'];
```
Creates an exampleZone distribution zone where data will only be stored on nodes that have SSD attribute:
```
CREATE ZONE IF NOT EXISTS exampleZone (NODES FILTER '$[?(@.storage == "SSD")]') STORAGE PROFILES['default'];
```
The example above assumes that there are nodes that have the attribute set in node filtering example.

Creates an exampleZone distribution zone with consistency mode set to HIGH_AVAILABILITY:

CREATE ZONE IF NOT EXISTS exampleZone (REPLICAS 5, CONSISTENCY MODE 'HIGH_AVAILABILITY') STORAGE PROFILES['default'];

ALTER ZONE

Modifies a distribution zone.

ALTER ZONE RENAME TO new_qualified_zone_name

Diagram( Terminal('ALTER ZONE'), Optional(Terminal('IF EXISTS')), NonTerminal('qualified_zone_name'), Terminal('RENAME TO'), NonTerminal('new_qualified_zone_name'), )

Keywords and parameters

IF EXISTS - do not throw an error if a zone with the specified name does not exist.
qualified_zone_name - the current name of the distribution zone.
RENAME TO - renames the selected zone to the new name.
new_qualified_zone_name - the new name of the distribution zone (assigned by RENAME).

Examples

Renames the exampleZone to renamedZone:

ALTER ZONE IF EXISTS exampleZone RENAME TO renamedZone;

ALTER ZONE SET

Diagram( Terminal('ALTER ZONE'), Optional(Terminal('IF EXISTS')), NonTerminal('qualified_zone_name'), Sequence(Terminal('SET'), Optional('('), OneOrMore( NonTerminal('parameter', {href:'./grammar-reference/#parameter'}), ','), Optional(')')))

Keywords and parameters

IF EXISTS - do not throw an error if a zone with the specified name does not exist.
qualified_zone_name - a name of the distribution zone.
SET - assigns values to any or all of the following parameters:
- PARTITIONS - the number of partitions
- REPLICAS - the number of copies of each partition.
- NODES FILTER - specifies the nodes that can be used to store data in the distribution zone based on node attributes.
- AUTO SCALE - Configures automatic distribution zone adjustment. Possible values:
  - OFF - disables the automatic distribution zone adjustment. Default value.
  - integer - the delay in seconds between the new node joining and the start of distribution zone adjustment. Possible values are between 0 and 2147483647.
- AUTO SCALE UP - Configures automatic scaling up of the distribution zone. Possible values:
  - OFF - disables the automatic distribution zone adjustment. Default value.
  - integer - the delay in seconds between the new node joining and the start of distribution zone adjustment. Possible values are between 0 and 2147483647.
- AUTO SCALE DOWN - Configures automatic scaling down of the distribution zone. Possible values:
  - OFF - disables the automatic distribution zone adjustment. Default value.
- QUORUM SIZE - the size of the majority of nodes in the consensus of a replication group. Quorum size is determined by the replica count.
  
  Minimal value: 1 if there is only one replica and 2 if there is more than one. Maximum value: half the total number of replicas rounded up.
  
  Default values: 3 if there are 5 and more replicas. Otherwise, the smallest of 2 and the total replica count.

Examples

Sets the number of data replicas to 10:

ALTER ZONE IF EXISTS exampleZone SET REPLICAS 10;

Sets data nodes filter to match the specific region, set the number of data replicas to 5 and quorum size to 3:

ALTER ZONE IF EXISTS exampleZone SET (REPLICAS 5, QUORUM SIZE 3, NODES FILTER '$[?(@.region == "US")]');

DROP ZONE

Drops an existing distribution zone.

Diagram( Terminal('DROP ZONE'), Terminal('IF EXISTS'), NonTerminal('qualified_zone_name') )

Keywords and parameters

IF EXISTS - do not throw an error if a zone with the specified name does not exist.
qualified_zone_name - the name of the distribution zone.

Examples

Drop Person table if the one exists:

DROP ZONE IF EXISTS exampleZone;

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Last updated on Oct 29, 2025