Question

I’m comparing between two techniques to create partitioned tables in SQL 2005.

• Use partitioned views with a standard version of SQL 2005 (described here)
• Use the built in partition in the Enterprise edition of SQL 2005 (described here)

Given that the enterprise edition is much more expensive, I would like to know what are the main benefits of the newer enterprise built-in implementation. Is it just an time saver for the implementation itself. Or will I gain real performance on large DBs?

I know i can adjust the constraints in the first option to keep a sliding window into the partitions. Can I do it with the built in version?

Answer 1

searchdotnet rulz! check this out:

http://www.eggheadcafe.com/forumarchives/SQLServerdatawarehouse/Dec2005/post25052042.asp

Updated: that link is dead. So here’s a better one http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345146(SQL.90).aspx#sql2k5parti_topic6

From above:

Some of the performance and manageability benefits (of partioned tables) are

• Simplify the design and implementation of large tables that need to be partitioned for performance or manageability purposes.
• Load data into a new partition of an existing partitioned table with minimal disruption in data access in the remaining partitions.
• Load data into a new partition of an existing partitioned table with performance equal to loading the same data into a new, empty table.
• Archive and/or remove a portion of a partitioned table while minimally impacting access to the remainder of the table.
• Allow partitions to be maintained by switching partitions in and out of the partitioned table.
• Allow better scaling and parallelism for extremely large operations over multiple related tables.
• Improve performance over all partitions.
• Improve query optimization time because each partition does not need to be optimized separately.