Tutorial: SQL Server indexing tips to improve performance

WHAT YOU'LL FIND IN THIS TUTORIAL:    Designing SQL Server indexes    Tuning SQL Server indexes

  SQL Server clustered index design for performance

Clustered index design in SQL Server is vital for system performance and future maintenance of your SQL Server database. Learn why clustered indexes should be narrow, static, increase over time and how they use many-to-many tables. Also, discover how the partitioned table concept in SQL Server 2005 affects clustered indexes.

  SQL Server indexes made handy

Indexes should be reviewed to ensure prime performance. Weed out valueless indexes and identify index recommendations to insure that your SQL Server indexes are at their peak.

  Answers to common SQL Server indexing questions

Indexing a SQL Server 2000 database is both an art and a science. You must determine the correct indexes based on your design and coding. But when you test your index design, you may find it doesn't work as well as you had hoped to improve system performance. Know how to choose proper indexes for your business situation with these answers to your common indexing questions.

  SQL Server 2000 indexing dos and don'ts

In this series of questions and answers, get ideas on indexing columns and databases correctly, avoiding page splitting and other SQL Server 2000 indexing dos and don'ts

  Partition indexes for improved SQL Server 2005 performance

SQL Server 2005 index partitioning allows you to distribute the load for a given index across multiple files. Discover how to create an index with partitioned data.

  Clustered or non-clustered indexes in SQL Server

Rules for using a clustered or non-clustered index in SQL Server are tough to decipher. Learn the fundamentals to consider when making your choice, along with some best practice techniques. Get an overview of tradeoffs and proper index implementation, as well as other areas involved in your decision, including partitioning and storage arrays.

  Designing SQL Server non-clustered indexes for query optimization

Non-clustered indexes improve SQL Server query performance by focusing queries on a subset of data. Find out the guidelines for designing non-clustered indexes, including choosing index fields, when a clustered index should be used instead of a compound index and how statistics influence non-clustered indexes.

  Adding non-clustered indexes to SQL Server columns

It is possible to add non-clustered indexes to SQL Server columns and tables that are frequently queried. Find out how.

  Indexing SQL text data

Indexing text data in SQL (varchar, nvarchar, char, etc) is a good way to make it faster to find the data you are looking for. However these indexes can end up being very hard on the disks behind the index, as well as the memory of the server. This is because of the large amount of data being put in the index.

  Tricks for using the Index Tuning Wizard

Discover how to improve overall SQL Server 2000 performance and better understand basic database indexing with these tricks for using the Index Tuning Wizard.

  Solving SQL Server 2000 index fragmentation

Indexing saves you from having to scan an entire table for data search and retrieval, but indexes can easily become fragmented over time. Find out how to maintain and ensure high performance by solving SQL Server 2000 index fragmentation.

  Best SQL Server indexing strategies

SQL Server supports only two index types for most data types: clustered and non-clustered. Learn how and why adopting the best SQL Server indexing strategies during your database design will impact SQL Server performance.

  How to maintain SQL Server indexes for query optimization

Maintain your SQL Server indexes with these techniques for page splits, table partitions, statistics updates and for limiting fragmented indexes. You'll also find out why query optimizer might choose to ignore your non-clustered index and instead opt for a table scan.

  Stored procedure to find fragmented indexes in SQL Server

Fragmented indexes and tables in SQL Server can slow down application performance. Here's a stored procedure that finds fragmented indexes in SQL servers and databases.