1. A programmed method for reorganizing a set of database partitions, the: programmed method comprising the process steps of: determining a fragmentation indicator for each database partition within a set of database partitions; ranking the set of database partitions according to a rank criteria comprising at least the fragmentation indicator; and reorganizing a subset of the database partitions in the ranked set of database partitions wherein the subset is defined at least in part by a rank order for the ranked set of database partitions.