an index with this column list already exists Explanation: An index exists with the same column list, and same type (either SORTED or HASHED), with the same column ordering (ASC/DESC) This warning is intended to alert the database administrator that this index may be redundant. User Action: If this index is not needed then drop this index, or ROLLBACK the CREATE INDEX statement. If you wish to replace an existing index with a different partitioning schema you should use ALTER INDEX. You can also disable the existing index using ALTER INDEX ... MAINTENANCE IS DISABLED so that it is no longer updated or used by queries. It can then be dropped at later time.