Indexes and Statistics

Abstract

Recent versions of SQL Server support many different types of index that are used to enhance query performance. These include traditional clustered and nonclustered indexes, which are built on B-tree (balanced-tree) structures and enhance read performance on disk-based tables. There are also indexes that support complex data types, such as XML, JSON, and Geospatial data types. These advanced data type indexes are beyond the scope of this book, but a full discussion can be found in the Apress title SQL Server Advanced Data Types, which can be found at www.apress.com/gp/book/9781484239001 . DBAs can also create Columnstore indexes to support data warehouse–style queries, where analysis is performed on very large tables. SQL Server also supports in-memory indexes, which enhance the performance of tables that are stored using In-Memory OLTP. This chapter discusses many of the available index types inside the Database Engine.