mortenmaate (9/8/2010)
Thanks a lot for the great overview !One thing I would like to mention additionally: Look a the SQL Server version. In my experience many companies upgrade their SQL Server too rarely, and especially in the MS family of SQL Servers, great improvements in the product during the last 10 years can be an easy gain (like factor 10 improvements or even more in some scenarios). So get rid of that SQL Server 2000 bastard now! (Believe me: They are still out there).
That is a very good point to add.
I know from direct testing that the optimizer works much better in 2005 then it did in 2000. I have not tested the query performance going from 2005 to 2008 or R2, but I would be shocked if it got worse.
---
Timothy A Wiseman
SQL Blog: http://timothyawiseman.wordpress.com/