Table Partitioning Deep Dive
2024TL; DR
From zero to hero, understand table partitioning now and forever! We will start from introducing the table partitioning and will dive very fast into mastering it. On top of technical demos, I will give you examples from many real cases I’ve gone through.
Session Details
From zero to hero, understand table partitioning now and forever! Partitioning is not a silver bullet of our biggest tables! Many thinks can go wrong. Before we consider it, we need to understand how it works. In this demo-rich session we will cover all you need to know about it. We will start from introducing the table partitioning and will dive very fast into mastering it. We will cover partition elimination, aligned and non-aligned indexes. We will pay special attention on choosing the partition key, reading query plans of partitioned tables, and troubleshooting performance problems. At the end of this deep dive session, you will get a very good understanding of how the partitioning works and how it helps for better data management and maintenance. On top of technical demos, I will give you examples from many real cases I’ve gone through. You will get ideas on how to approach more complex cases of historical data maintenance, by combining partitioning, indexing, and records deletion. You will know how to achieve performance improvement, and when you should not choose partitioning but some other optimization techniques instead.
3 things you'll get out of this session
Speakers
Margarita Naumova's other proposed sessions for 2026
Large Tables, Big Problems: Indexing, Partitioning, and Archiving at Scale - 2026
A Deep Dive into Table Partitioning – Part 1: Mechanics and Performance - 2026
A Deep Dive into Table Partitioning – Part 2: Design, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting - 2026
SQL Server 2025 and Microsoft Fabric: Integration Patterns and Trade-offs - 2026
SQL Server 2025 Optimized Locking and ADR: Practical Internals for Real Systems - 2026
Warehouse loading – tips and tricks for better performance - 2026
Margarita Naumova's previous sessions
Keeping historical data in tables forever – mission (im)possible!
Let’s discover some solutions for keeping historical data in the database when you receive near to impossible requirements like storing data in same tables forever and being able to edit and query them at the same time, of course keeping the response at its best. Based on a real project case the session walks you through the design process from the start to the reaching of the final solution and making the client (and developers) happy.
Modern database design (anti)patterns
We must realize that patterns which were valid 10 years ago are less likely to work now, like cursor logic, xml usage, or storing all in db v/s using NoSQL. From global industry trends to specific database patterns, this session is a combination of best practices, good and bad patterns, tips, and tricks which I give to customers in my work as a consultant.
SQL Server Table partitioning – DOs and DON’Ts
When do we get improvement in the performance, and when should we better not choosing partitioning but some other optimization techniques instead? Shall we optimize by using partitioning or yet another index?
Identify opportunities for In-Memory OLTP
The session will uncover the In-Memory OLTP architecture, the concerns about data durability and database startup and recovery as well as some important consideration on Management of in-memory objects.