> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://mariadb.com/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/architecture/topologies/spider-storage-engine.md).

# Spider Storage Engine

### Spider Topologies

#### Spider Federated

MariaDB Enterprise Spider enables reading from and writing to tables on remote Enterprise Server nodes. It uses the Spider storage engine for "virtual" Federated Spider Tables, querying Data Tables on Data Nodes (which use non-Spider engines) via a MariaDB foreign data wrapper. This solution supports transactions and is available with Enterprise Server 10.3+.

| ![Spider Federated Topology](/files/GKnZ14gf6FSKRMv3lAZZ) | <ul><li><strong>Read from and write to tables on remote ES nodes</strong></li><li>Spider Node uses Spider storage engine for Federated Spider Tables</li><li>Federated Spider Table is a "virtual" table</li><li>Spider uses MariaDB foreign data wrapper to query Data Table on Data Node</li><li>Data Node uses non-Spider storage engine for Data Tables</li><li>Supports transactions</li><li>Enterprise Server 10.3+, Enterprise Spider</li></ul> |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |

#### Spider Sharded

MariaDB Enterprise Spider facilitates horizontal scalability by sharding tables. It uses the Spider storage engine for partitioned "virtual" Sharded Spider Tables, querying Data Tables on Data Nodes (using non-Spider engines) for each partition via a MariaDB foreign data wrapper. This solution supports transactions and is available with Enterprise Server 10.3+.

| ![Spider Sharded Topology](/files/nVlAeUTJjtyZyHBgemSF) | <ul><li><strong>Shard tables for horizontal scalability</strong></li><li>Spider Node uses Spider storage engine for Sharded Spider Tables</li><li>Sharded Spider Table is a partitioned "virtual" table</li><li>Spider uses MariaDB foreign data wrapper to query Data Tables on Data Nodes for each partition</li><li>Data Node uses non-Spider storage engine for Data Tables</li><li>Supports transactions</li><li>Enterprise Server 10.3+, Enterprise Spider</li></ul> |
| ------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

<sub>*This page is: Copyright © 2025 MariaDB. All rights reserved.*</sub>

{% @marketo/form formId="4316" %}


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter:

```
GET https://mariadb.com/docs/server/architecture/topologies/spider-storage-engine.md?ask=<question>&goal=<endgoal>
```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal.

The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.