Partitioning tables in SQL Server, will it affect my software?

Question

1. Do I need to update my software to support partitioned table?
2. Does partitioning tables in SQL Server change my database table?

Answer 1

Database partitioning is a DBMS level feature such that the DBMS will distribute the data of a table across different tables and update the index as well. This partitioning is transparent to the application and none of the queries will change as a result of your partitions.

Your table structure will not change; instead, after partitioning, the data will be distributed across multiple tables. You can visualize partitioning as horizontally splitting your table data and distributing it among two or more tables. The only difference is that the DBMS will not let you know of the data being split among multiple tables

Answer 2

Refering to Partitioned Tables and Indexes in SQL Server 2005 :

SQL Server 2005 offers a way to easily and consistently manage large tables and indexes through partitioning, which allows you to manage subsets of your data outside of the active table. This provides simplified management, increased performance, and abstracted application logic, as the partitioning scheme is entirely transparent to the application.

Read the provided article to learn the best practices about tables partitioning in sql server.

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Also refer to:

Partitioned Table and Index Concepts

Designing Partitions to Improve Query Performance