An apparatus and method are disclosed. The method, which may be performed by one or more processors, may comprise receiving timestamp data representing a plurality of database transactions and dividing the timestamp data into a plurality of partitioning quanta (nPQ), each partitioning quantum (PQ) of the plurality of partitioning quanta representing a range of timestamps. Further, for each partitioning quantum (PQ) of the plurality of partitioning quanta (nPQ), the method may comprise allocating the timestamp data, such that sequentially adjacent timestamps are allocated to different partitions of a physical storage system for subsequent storage at the allocated partitions.