Basics of Partitioning

From the perspective of a database administrator, a partitioned object has multiple pieces that can be managed either collectively or individually. This gives an administrator considerable flexibility in managing partitioned objects. However, from the perspective of the application, a partitioned table is identical to a nonpartitioned table; no modifications are necessary when accessing a partitioned table using SQL queries and DML statements.

Figure 2-1 offers a graphical view of how partitioned tables differ from nonpartitioned tables.