fig1 shows a best mode for carrying out the invention . in this embodiment , a plurality of db servers 101 , 102 are connected with a table area 109 and an index area # 1 110 on a network - connected storage via a network 117 , and accordingly the table area 109 and the index area 110 are sharable by the plurality of db servers 101 , 102 . moreover , exclusive index areas # 2 113 , 115 are connected with the respective db server . the table area 109 and the index area # 1 110 are partitioned internally into the same number of small areas 111 , 112 by using the same technique . each of the small areas 103 , 104 , 106 , 107 is allocated to the db servers 101 , 102 . small areas are not created in the other index areas # 2 113 , 115 , but one or a plurality of areas 114 , 116 are made up and referred to by db servers 105 , 108 . fig5 is a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of this invention . in this embodiment , back end modules 501 , 502 for performing data search in a table area 508 and the index areas and data operation correspond to the db servers 101 , 102 in fig1 , respectively . in addition , a database management system 512 is constructed with : the back end modules 501 , 502 ; a front end module 503 for receiving a query from a user or program 504 and creating a query plan ; a scheduler module 505 for managing the configuration alteration done by the function shown in jp 2004 - 003601 a and a schedule of indexing ; a mapping module 506 for managing allocation of the partitioned data areas ; the table area 508 in the shared storage ; an index area # 1 509 in the shared storage ; and index areas # 2 510 , 511 on the non - shared storage ; all of which work in conjunction with one another . an administrator or program 507 does input of a configuration altering instruction into the scheduler module 505 . in this embodiment , the function shown in jp 2004 - 003601 a is applied to the table area 508 and the index area # 1 509 . the scheduler module 505 is made to perform schedule management of the configuration alteration , and the mapping module 506 is made to perform allocation management of the areas 508 , 509 on the shared storage . in order to take such a configuration , it is necessary to guarantee that the table area 508 and the index area # 1 509 will establish one - to - one correspondence . in this embodiment , the hash - division algorithm was used to partition the table , and the b - tree index was chosen to be the index . further , using the technique shown in fig4 , the hash function used to partition the table area 508 and the index area # 1 509 , respectively , are equalized , and the table area 508 and the index area # 1 509 are partitioned by the same number of partitions , respectively , whereby consistency is guaranteed . here , the divided indices being created in the index area # 1 509 are referred to as small indices . in the other index areas # 2 510 , 511 , the index corresponding to the whole of the table areas allocated to the back end modules 501 , 502 are created , respectively . in this specification , the index created in each of the index areas # 2 510 , 511 is referred to as a large index . note here that when the configuration is altered , the small areas allocated to the back end modules 501 , 502 as a table area will change ; therefore , discrepancy of contents will arise between the table area 508 and the index areas # 2 510 , 511 . in order to solve the problem , it is necessary to manage the large index before and after the configuration alteration . fig6 shows a processing flow at the time of this configuration alteration . in this flow , after receiving configuration alteration request ( step 601 ), the large index is invalidated ( step 602 ) and the configuration alternation is performed ( step 603 ) according to jp 2004 - 003601 a . after the configuration alteration ( step 603 ), the large index that has been invalidated previously ( step 602 ) is re - created ( step 604 ). since the re - creation of the large index ( step 604 ) is performed in the background , a query from the user or the program 504 is being received continuously . moreover , during the re - creation of the large index ( step 604 ), the fall of the retrieval processing speed can be kept to the minimum by performing retrieval processing using the small index . after finishing the re - creation of the large index ( step 604 ), the large index is validated ( step 605 ) to be usable in query processing , and the configuration alteration processing is ended ( step 6106 ). note that , in order to re - create the large index by the conventional technique , all the items in a pertinent table need to be scanned . however , in the environment to which this invention is applied , it is guaranteed that the small index corresponding to the large index surely exists and the small index has already been sorted . therefore , speed - up in re - creating the large index can be attained by creating the large index from the small index , not from the table . fig7 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of this invention . in this embodiment , back end modules 701 , 702 for performing data search in a table area and an index area and data operation correspond to the db servers 101 , 102 of fig1 , respectively . in addition , the back end modules 701 , 702 constitute a database management system 709 along with as a front end module 703 for receiving a query from a program 704 and generating a query plan as well as a table area 705 on a shared storage , an index area # 1 706 in the shared storage , and non - shared storage index areas # 2 707 , 708 all of which work in conjunction with one another . this embodiment imitates the function shown in jp 2004 - 003601 a without using the allocation management table . in this embodiment , the table area and the index area # 1 in the shared storage are divided into 12 virtual volumes 705 , 706 , respectively , and allocation of these virtual volumes 705 , 706 to the back end servers 701 , 702 is managed manually , whereby the functions shown in jp 2004 - 003601 a are imitated . storing of the table in the 12 - divided virtual volumes 705 is done by taking a method whereby a table divided into to create 12 parts similarly by the hash - division algorithm . here , a divided index that is created in the index area # 1 706 is also referred to as a small index . in the other index areas # 2 707 , 708 , an index that corresponds to all the virtual volumes that are allocated to the back end modules 701 , 702 is created . the index created in the index areas # 2 707 , 708 is referred to as a large index . in this embodiment , just like the first embodiment , when the configuration is altered , there will occur discrepancy in contents between the table area and the index area # 2 . fig8 shows a processing flow for management of the large index that is necessary at the time of this configuration alteration . in this embodiment , the large index is invalidated ( step 802 ) after the reception of the configuration alteration processing ( step 801 ). in preparation for allocation alteration of the 12 - divided virtual volumes 705 , 706 , the table area and the index area # 1 are dismounted from a database management system ( step 803 ), and a database management system is halted ( step 804 ). then , instructions are issued to the os and the shared storage to alter the allocation of the 12 - divided virtual volumes 705 , 706 ( step 805 ). since the database management system has been halted previously ( step 804 ), this allocation alteration does not cause data loss to be generated . after the allocation alteration ( step 805 ), the database management system is started ( step 806 ), and the table area and the index area # 1 are re - mounted on the database management system ( step 807 ). at this time , the database management system becomes able to receive a query from the user or the program 704 . then , the large index that has been invalidated previously ( step 802 ) is re - created ( step 808 ). since the creation of the large index ( step 808 ) is performed in the background , reception of a query from the user or the program 704 is being done continuously . moreover , during the re - creation of the large index ( step 808 ), the fall of retrieval processing speed is kept to the minimum by performing retrieval processing using the small index . after finishing the re - creation ( step 808 ) of the large index , the large index is validated ( step 809 ) to be usable in query processing , and the configuration alteration processing is ended ( step 810 ).