• I think SQLBuddy hit the most important point. Backup all the indexes as scripts first. Dropping or adding an index is a pretty trivial event, but knowing exactly which index to add, was it unique, did it have a fill factor or a filter or INCLUDE columns... Backups are the way to go with that.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning