Chapter 5. Managing and Optimizing SQL Server 2012 Indexes

SQL Server 2012 uses indexes to structure and optimize access to data found within the tables of a database. Index design, maintenance, and optimization are key factors that contribute to how well a database performs. Although the lack of indexes or the use of poorly designed indexes, along with inadequate maintenance, can lead to performance degradation, well-designed and maintained indexes can significantly improve the overall performance of a database by reducing the disk I/O cost associated with locating data.

When you are performing management and administrative tasks on indexes, it is important to understand the various options and tools that help DBAs make the right index management ...

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