SQLBOT (3/1/2010)
It's the random insertion, not the datatype that causes the problem.
What's the differece if the data inserted is Johnson, Jonsonn, Johnsen or three guids?
Under the hood, there's not a difference.
Craig,
Respectfully, the rate of fragmenation partially depends on what the datatype is for the column. If you are inserting random values into a varchar(8) column, the end impact for fragmentation would be different than a char(8), nchar(8) or nvarchar(8) column because the storage size is different for each so fragmentation rates would be different. A GUID is 16 bytes so it takes more space = fuller pages faster = more page splits = faster fragmentation rates.
Your point is accurate, just playing semantics with you is all. 😉
Jonathan Kehayias | Principal Consultant | MCM: SQL Server 2008
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