Data partitioning means that you can use different data sources for different user sets or attribute sets. You can partition data as follows:
Type-Based Data Partitioning
Principals of different types (users, groups, and so on) are stored on different data sources.
Example: Users are stored on an LDAP server, groups are stored in a database.
Principal-Based Data Partitioning
Principals of the same type are stored on different data sources depending on their attributes.
Example: Regular users are stored on an LDAP server, while service users are stored in a database.
Attribute-Based Data Partitioning
The attributes of one principal are distributed over several data sources.
Example: Attributes of a user which are allowed by the LDAP server's schema (such as first name, last name, telephone number, email address) are stored on an LDAP server, application-specific attributes (such as portal theme) and custom attributes are stored in a database.