Inside Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005, Fourth Edition

Table and Index Partitioning

As we’ve already seen when looking at the metadata for table and index storage, partitioning is an integral feature of SQL Server space organization. Figure 6-6 illustrated the relationship between tables and indexes (hobts), partitions, and allocation units. To determine where a table or index is stored, you must reference the partition of the table or index. Tables and indexes that are built without any reference to partitions are considered to be stored on a single partition. One of the more useful metadata objects for retrieving information about data storage is the dynamic management view called sys.dm_db_partition_stats, which combines information found in sys.partitions, sys.allocation_units, and sys.indexes ...