Database Reference
In-Depth Information
We investigated the various table-partitioning schemes offered by Oracle—range, hash, list, interval, reference,
interval reference, virtual column, and composite—and talked about when they are most appropriately used. We
spent the bulk of our time looking at partitioned indexes and examining the differences between prefixed and
nonprefixed and local and global indexes. We investigated partition operations in data warehouses combined with
global indexes, and the tradeoff between resource consumption and availability. We also looked at new Oracle 12c
new ease of maintenance features such as the ability to perform maintenance operations on multiple partitions
at a time, cascading truncate, and cascade exchange. Oracle continues to update and improve partitioning with each
new release.
Over time, I see this feature becoming more relevant to a broader audience as the size and scale of database
applications grow. The Internet and its database-hungry nature along with legislation requiring longer retention of
audit data are leading to more and more extremely large collections of data, and partitioning is a natural tool to help
manage that problem.
