• It makes zero sense to pull out just the month and index it.  You'd be far better off indexing the date with a dummy year.

    And if one (almost) always searched this table by birth month (or month and day), then you should indeed cluster on it.  Selectivity is only one factor in clustering.  The main point is to reduce I/O.  Therefore, you must go beyond super-simplistic basic rules when setting up indexes.

    SQL DBA,SQL Server MVP(07, 08, 09) A socialist is someone who will give you the shirt off *someone else's* back.