This illustration represents sample shards in a KVStore, with a replication factor of 3. The diagram consists of a rectangular box, within which are two shards, Shard 1 and Shard 2, from left to right. In Shard 1 Storage Node 1 is marked as the replication master, Storage Nodes 2 and 3 are both replica nodes. To the right of Shard 1 is Shard 2. Within that shard, Storage Node 4 is marked as replication master, and Storage Nodes 5 and 6 are replica nodes. To the right of Shard 2, and connected with a line of ellipses, representing the option of multiple more shards, is Shard n. Shard n consists of Storage Node SN 3n-2, as the replication master. Storage Node SN 3n-1 and SN 3n are replicas. The illustration denotes that there are typically many shards in use for each KVStore.