# What is a data topology?

DevFeed: [What is a data topology?](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/what-is-a-data-topology-2341.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://planetscale.com/blog/what-is-a-data-topology>)

Author: Ahmed Darwich

Published: 2026-08-17T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Blog -- PlanetScale](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/blog-planetscale.md>)

Topics: [data](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data.md>), [vitess](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/vitess.md>)

Tags: [architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/architecture.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/data.md>), [database](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/database.md>), [engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/engineering.md>), [internals](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/internals.md>), [json](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/json.md>), [mapping](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mapping.md>), [neki](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/neki.md>), [performance](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/performance.md>), [postgres](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/postgres.md>), [postgresql](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/postgresql.md>), [routing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/routing.md>), [scalability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/scalability.md>), [transactions](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/transactions.md>), [vitess](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/vitess.md>)

## AI overview

The article explains Neki data topologies: JSON configurations that map logical PostgreSQL tables to physical shard groups so routers can place data and route queries.

## Source excerpt

A data topology describes the sharding scheme a Neki router uses to map logical PostgreSQL tables to physical shards and route queries.