Chapter 13. Index design and maintenance

Well-designed indexes reduce the time needed to access required data, but designed and used incorrectly, they slow query performance, lengthen maintenance routines, and increase database size and storage costs. The ability to successfully design and maintain indexes is an important DBA skill that requires a good understanding of how SQL Server uses indexes along with a solid grasp of index-analysis and maintenance techniques.

In this chapter, we'll begin with an overview of SQL Server indexes and cover strategies for successful index design. We'll then focus on a number of index-analysis techniques aimed at identifying indexes to add, drop, and defragment. We'll close the chapter with coverage of the tools and techniques involved in maintaining indexes and statistics, a crucial component of any database maintenance strategy.