title: Partitioning a mySQL table
body: <p>I am considering partitioning a mySQL table that has the potential to grow very big.  The table as it stands goes like this</p>
  
  <pre><code>DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `uidlist`;
  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `uidlist` (
   `uid` varchar(9) CHARACTER SET ascii COLLATE ascii_bin NOT NULL, 
   `chcs` varchar(16) NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
    UNIQUE KEY `uid` (`uid`)
  ) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=ascii;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>where </p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>uid is a sequence of 9 character id strings starting with a lowercase letter</li>
  <li>chcs is a checksum that is used internally.</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>I suspect that the best way to partition this table would be based on the first letter of the uid field.  This would give</p>
  
  <pre><code>Partition 1
  abcd1234,acbd1234,adbc1234...
  
  Partition 2
  bacd1234,bcad1234,bdac1234...
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>However, I have never done partitioning before I have no idea how to go about it.  Is the partitioning scheme I have outlined possible?  If so, how do I go about implementing it?</p>
  
  <p>I would much appreciate any help with this.</p>