Partition Types

When you configure the partitioning information for a pipeline, you must define a partition type at each partition point in the pipeline. The partition type determines how the Integration Service redistributes data across partition points.

The Integration Services creates a default partition type at each partition point. If you have the Partitioning option, you can change the partition type. The partition type controls how the Integration Service distributes data among partitions at partition points. You can create different partition types at different points in the pipeline.

You can define the following partition types in the Workflow Manager:

• Database partitioning: The Integration Service queries the IBM DB2 or Oracle database system for table partition information. It reads partitioned data from the corresponding nodes in the database. You can use database partitioning with Oracle or IBM DB2 source instances on a multi-node tablespace. You can use database partitioning with DB2 targets.
• Hash auto-keys: The Integration Service uses a hash function to group rows of data among partitions. The Integration Service groups the data based on a partition key. The Integration Service uses all grouped or sorted ports as a compound partition key. You may need to use hash auto-keys partitioning at Rank, Sorter, and unsorted Aggregator transformations.
• Hash user keys: The Integration Service uses a hash function to group rows of data among partitions. You define the number of ports to generate the partition key.
• Key range: With key range partitioning, the Integration Service distributes rows of data based on a port or set of ports that you define as the partition key. For each port, you define a range of values. The Integration Service uses the key and ranges to send rows to the appropriate partition. Use key range partitioning when the sources or targets in the pipeline are partitioned by key range.
• Pass-through: In pass-through partitioning, the Integration Service processes data without redistributing rows among partitions. All rows in a single partition stay in the partition after crossing a pass-through partition point. Choose pass-through partitioning when you want to create an additional pipeline stage to improve performance, but do not want to change the distribution of data across partitions.
• Round-robin: The Integration Service distributes data evenly among all partitions. Use round-robin partitioning where you want each partition to process approximately the same number of rows.