The following limitations apply to the use of storage engines with user-defined partitioning of tables.

MERGE storage engine.  User-defined partitioning and the MERGE storage engine are not compatible. Tables using the MERGE storage engine cannot be partitioned. Partitioned tables cannot be merged.

FEDERATED storage engine.  Partitioning of FEDERATED tables is not supported. Beginning with MySQL 5.1.15, it is not possible to create partitioned FEDERATED tables at all. We are working to remove this limitation in a future MySQL release.

CSV storage engine.  Partitioned tables using the CSV storage engine are not supported. Starting with MySQL 5.1.12, it is not possible to create partitioned CSV tables at all.

BLACKHOLE storage engine.  Prior to MySQL 5.1.6, tables using the BLACKHOLE storage engine also could not be partitioned.

NDB storage engine (MySQL Cluster).  Partitioning by KEY (or LINEAR KEY) is the only type of partitioning supported for the NDB storage engine. Beginning with MySQL 5.1.12, it is not possible to create a Cluster table using any partitioning type other than [LINEAR] KEY, and attempting to do so gives rise to an error.

Upgrading partitioned tables.  When performing an upgrade, tables which are partitioned by KEY and which use any storage engine other than NDBCLUSTER must be dumped and reloaded.

Same storage engine for all partitions.  All partitions of a partitioned table must use the same storage engine and it must be the same storage engine used by the table as a whole. In addition, if one does not specify an engine on the table level, then one must do either of the following when creating or altering a partitioned table:

We are working to remove this limitation in a future MySQL release.