David Durant


Stairway to SQL Server Indexes

Deeper into Nonclustered Indexes: Stairway to SQL Server Indexes Level 2

By this stage, you should be familiar with the basics of SQL Server indexes. We've discussed what an Index actually is, as well as some of the most common types you're likely to encounter. Now that we've seen some simple examples of how Indexes can be useful, we're going to delve deeper into nonclustered indexes, as we'll see how they can improve the performance of more complex queries.

(3)

You rated this post out of 5. Change rating

2022-11-16 (first published: )

38,052 reads

Stairway to SQL Server Indexes

Pages and Extents: Stairway to SQL Server Indexes Level 4

We've now seen how indexed and non-indexed tables perform in queries, and established "logical reads" as the metric for query performance. Now it is time to explain why logical reads are an excellent metric and also explain what is actually being read.

(2)

You rated this post out of 5. Change rating

2019-03-06 (first published: )

19,298 reads

Stairway to SQL Server Indexes

An Introduction to SQL Server Indexes: Stairway to SQL Server Indexes Level 1

Indexes are the database objects that enable SQL Server to satisfy each data access request from a client application with the minimum amount of effort, resulting in the maximum performance of individual requests while also reducing the impact of one request upon another. Prerequisites: Familiarity with the following relational database concepts: Table, row, primary key, foreign key

(1)

You rated this post out of 5. Change rating

2014-11-05 (first published: )

67,594 reads

Blogs

My Social Media Rules

By

I developed these rules a while back, before COVID. I had a period of...

Why Use TRY_PARSE(): #SQLNewBlogger

By

Someone asked why I would use TRY_PARSE after I posted a question at SQL...

A Guatemalan's Guide to Drinking Coffee Properly

By

My mugI grew up surrounded by coffee farms in Guatemala and somehow spent most...

Read the latest Blogs

Forums

Partitioning a table with TEXTIMAGE_ON option

By Brandie Tarvin

I have a table that ends in ON [PRIMARY] TEXTIMAGE_ON [PRIMARY]. I'm about to...

OUTER APPLY Fundamentals: Part 2

By Imran2629

Comments posted to this topic are about the item OUTER APPLY Fundamentals: Part 2

Building Great Software

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Building Great Software

Visit the forum

Question of the Day

The Range of Customers

I have this data in the OrderHeader table in a SQL Server 2025 database (ordered by CustomerID ASC):

orderid orderdate               customerid complete
3       2025-05-10 00:00:00.0002          1
21      2024-01-10 00:00:00.0003          1
15      2023-10-28 00:00:00.0004   1
13      2025-03-08 00:00:00.0006          1
11      2024-04-02 00:00:00.0007          1
If I run this query, how many rows are returned?
SELECT *
 from dbo.OrderHeader
 where customerid between 3 and '6'

See possible answers