The Oracle database gives you access to information based on the logical structure of that information, but the data within an Oracle database is stored in physical structures. Just as a tablespace is a logical concept, the data within the tablespace is stored within one or more physical data files.

The concept of a partitioned table is analogous to the relationship between a tablespace and its data files.
You can have one or more data files associated with a tablespace. Even though the data files are invisible to you, all of your database maintenance operations occur at the level of the tablespace. A partition of a table is a section of that table. The different partitions in the table are transparent to a user executing an SQL statement against the table. However, unlike the tablespace and data file relationship, you have direct control over how the table is partitioned. The Oracle database can take advantage of the different partitions of a table to improve performance and increase maintainability of the table.
The structure of a partitioned table is graphically displayed in the following MouseOver.

Oracle Partitioned Tables
You can only use partitioning if you have purchased the partitioning option for the Oracle8 Enterprise Edition database.
The next lesson examines the advantages of using partitioned tables.