alexander.schaaf (8/12/2010)
Why would the amount of columns have anything to do with it?(Did you create an Index on the TaxID column?)
Answering the questions backwards:
2) No, I did not create an Index on TaxID. I can't because it belongs to a table that already has more than enough indexes on it as it is. And the index wouldn't be used because of this.
1) In my experience, wider tables actually do consume more processing resources. Part of that, though, is the design of our database and the fact that our tables aren't just wide, but super long. You can have a wide, short table that processes fast, or a narrow, long table that processes fast. But put the wide and long together and you've just created a monster that takes forever to update. Especially when (as I said in #2) you have developers that like to index every column they call in query.
We're working on breaking that habit, but it's a long row to hoe. @=)