Horizontal Partitioning
- Definition: Splits a table by rows into partitions within one database server (the same split across multiple servers is called sharding)
- Characteristics:
- Same schema across all partitions
- Different rows in different partitions
- Each partition contains a complete subset of data
- Examples: Partitioning customer data by region, time-series data by date ranges
Vertical Partitioning
- Definition: Splits a table by columns, storing different column sets separately
- Characteristics:
- Different schemas across partitions
- Same row identifiers across partitions
- Often used to separate frequently accessed columns from rarely accessed ones
- Examples: Storing customer basic info separately from detailed profile data