We are in the midst of getting out POS backend DB redesigned to support growth. Currently, our POS transactions are passed through to DB via a Web Service.
I understand that hardware scaling up is an option to increase throughput (transactions per second). However - I am looking advise if there are other options like DB Caching, DB Partitioning or Segregating Transactional DB from Non-Transactional DB etc..
Also - we run few scheduled batch jobs which usually locks the DB.I am open for recommendations as to how we can avoid DB locking for such cases.
The database is SQL Server 2008 R2.