Every once in a while, you may have a need to determine how much space is being used by a table in your database. In this quick blog, I am going to show you how to get the some details on a particular table using the system stored procedure sp_spaceused. I’m not going to try and rehash what MSDN has to say about sp_spaceused, but I would encourage you to check it out when you have time.

For this example, I want to determine the amount of space the DimProducts table is taking up in the AdventureWorksDW database. Script 1 below shows how to pass in the table name to the sp_spaceused procedure and figure 1 displays the results of executing the script on my machine. Yours may vary based on what you’ve done to the table after installing the AdventureWorksDW database.

Script 1: sp_SpaceUsed
USE AdventureWorksDW
GO
EXEC sp_spaceused DimProduct

Figure 1: Results

There you have it. It’s simple enough right? Go ahead and give it a try.

Until next time, “keep your ear to the grindstone” – Good Will Hunting

Brian K. McDonald, MCDBA, MCSD
Business Intelligence Consultant – Pragmatic Works Consulting
Email: bmcdonald@pragmaticworks.com | Blog: BI Developer Network
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