Comparing Space Usage for Different Compression Types

This is an investigation, to get an impression on the impact of the used disk space before and after compression considering different index types.

Using OVER() to Remove Duplicate Rows

Tables used purely for reporting sometimes lack a unique identifier. Find out how to remove duplicates from such a table when data loads go bad.

The DBA's Essential Index Monitoring and Maintenance Tasks

Indexes can be the most critical part of any database. they can drastically improve performance or they can ruin it. Wise management is the key to success.

Best design for OLTP tables

Tables and Clustered Indexes Part 2

A table does not so much 'have' a clustered index as a table 'is' a clustered index.

Identify and Correct SQL Server Forwarded Records

Forwarded records in SQL Server can cause performance issues on heap tables because the record outgrows the page and the database engine uses pointers to reference the data. The best practice is to have a clustered index on every table, however, sometimes there are cases when a clustered index is not needed.

Can a Table Really Have a Clustered Index?

A table doesn't so much "have" a clustered index as a table "is" a clustered index.

Check status of HEAP tables

This SP reports the status of your heap tables. It gives you an overview of fragmentation, ghost record counts and forwarded record counts. Another reason to create a clustered index!

Estimating the table size...

This is an effort to program the "Estimating the Table size" section given in BOL.

Reasons Why You May Not Want to Use a Heap

For a book project I am working on, I have started compiling a list of reasons why heaps aren't usually a good choice when designing a database. Now, I didn't say that heaps are always bad, but in most cases, I think they should be avoided so pleae read the list to see why.