# Key Considerations for Understanding Your Workload

Before attempting any schema design, it is critical to understand the nature of the workload. Ask yourself the following questions before getting started:

* Is data loaded in trickles, large batches, or concurrent inserts? Is data frequently updated? See the [Load Data](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/load-data.md) and [Concurrent Multi-Insert Examples](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/developer-resources/concurrent-multi-insert-examples.md) pages to learn more.
* Is data ingest speed more important than query performance? See the [Query Tuning](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/query-data/query-tuning.md) page for more information.
* Are the queries mostly working with a small subset of rows related to the entire dataset (probably 0.1% or less)? Are the queries dealing with the entire dataset or a big subset of the data? See the [Use the Workload Manager](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/user-and-cluster-administration/use-the-workload-manager-and-set-resource-limits/use-the-workload-manager.md) page to learn more.
* Which tables do you tend to join and what columns do you use to join them? See the [Query Performance Tools](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/query-data/query-tuning/query-performance-tools.md) page for more information on how to improve join performance.
* What columns do you tend to use in filters? See the [Query Performance Tools](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/query-data/query-tuning/query-performance-tools.md) page for more information about how to improve query filtering performance.

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Modified at: February 6, 2025

Source: [/db/v9.1/create-a-database/optimizing-table-data-structures/key-considerations-for-understanding-your-workload/](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/create-a-database/optimizing-table-data-structures/key-considerations-for-understanding-your-workload/)

(An index of the documentation is available at /llms.txt)