Indexes are fundamental to database design, and tell the developer using the database a great deal about the intentions of the designer. Unfortunately indexes are too often added as an afterthought when performance issues appear. Here at last is a simple series of articles that should bring any database professional rapidly 'up to speed' with them   Read more...

Don't blame SQL Server if your SQL Statements perform badly! But where do you start to investigate the problem? This article is a primer on were to start looking when your SQL runs slowly.  Read more...

Internal and external fragmentation – Causes, cures, and when not to care  Read more...

The most common T-SQL command in use has to be the SELECT statement, it is the bedrock of any SQL Professional's day. Sometimes it's used to snatch some data from a table or two while some quick investigation is done, other times it is at the heart of a stored procedure or view that will inform business decisions for coming months or even years.  Read more...

A detailed look the B-Tree structure – Leaf level and non-leaf level.  Read more...

Solution for Backup, Integrity Check, Index and Statistics Maintenance in SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2.  Read more...

Using this script you can create a list of sql commands for foreign keys manipulation.  Read more...

This script will find foreign keys (on referencing table) that are not indexed in SQL Server 2005.  Read more...

A table that does not have a clustered index is referred to as a Heap. While a lot has been written about index fragmentation and how to defrag indexes, there is not much that talks about how to defrag a heap table.  Read more...

Solution for Backup, Integrity Check, Index and Statistics Maintenance in SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2.  Read more...

Index Defragmentation is one of the most important DBA tasks. This will significantly improve query performance.   Read more...

At some time or another every DBA has been faced with the challenge of solving a deadlock issue in their SQL Server database. In the following tip we will look at how indexes and more specifically clustered indexes on the right columns can help reduce the chance of your applications receiving this dreaded error  Read more...

Index maintenance procedure using rebuild or reorganized based on fragementation level.  Read more...

This stored procedure is capable of performing defragmentation indices with avg_fragmentation_in_percent greater than the threshold passed.  Read more...

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Determining how, and if, SQL Server is using your indexes.  Read more...

Generate Script to create all secondary indexes for a database. I have included the ability to generate online indexes if possible and the ability to move to another file group.   Read more...

Indexes that ensure data integrity in addition to locating rows.  Read more...

Are your index statistics up to date? The SQL Server database engine uses statistics to determine which execution plan to use when a query is compiled. Index statistics are used to help the SQL Server engine determine the cardinality of different column values in a SQL Server table. If you want to give SQL Server a fighting chance at picking an optimal execution plan then you need to make sure you maintain your index statistics.  Read more...

This article shows an automated reorg/rebuild index for remote servers with notifications for the DBA.  Read more...