MySQL Partition Feature or Sharding

[Andrew Rosolino]

Hi,

I currently have a table that collects analytic data from each guest and this table is rapidly growing. For example I store information based on the guests IP, browser, visit time, referral.

Now in my administration area I view this data sorted by the visit time. So what I was originally thinking was using MySQL partition feature to create a partition based on each month. My question is.. if I have say 1,000,000,000 rows on one table partitioned by month is this still a good way to go?

Or once I reach 1,000,000,000 rows is a better idea to start sharding my data over multiple tables.

I guess my main in concern is I don't want to lose search features such as search by browser agent or IP. Because if it's sharded then I would have to union all the tables but if I go the partition route it would still all be in one table.

I am aiming for the future here because my database is growing a rapid pace and this table is only one example.

Any help or guidance would be appreciated.