sys.dm_db_partition_stats<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nUSE DynamicsBC;\nGO\n\nSELECT\nDB_NAME() AS DatabaseName,\nCAST(SUM(reserved_page_count) * 8.0 \/ 1024 AS DECIMAL(18,2)) AS TotalSizeMB,\nCAST(SUM(used_page_count) * 8.0 \/ 1024 AS DECIMAL(18,2)) AS UsedSizeMB,\nCAST((SUM(reserved_page_count) - SUM(used_page_count)) * 8.0 \/ 1024 AS DECIMAL(18,2)) AS FreeSizeMB,\nCAST(SUM(\nCASE\nWHEN index_id < 2 THEN in_row_data_page_count\n+ lob_used_page_count\n+ row_overflow_used_page_count\nELSE 0\nEND\n) * 8.0 \/ 1024 AS DECIMAL(18,2)) AS DataSizeMB,\nCAST(SUM(\nCASE\nWHEN index_id >= 2 THEN used_page_count\nELSE 0\nEND\n) * 8.0 \/ 1024 AS DECIMAL(18,2)) AS IndexSizeMB\nFROM sys.dm_db_partition_stats;\nGO\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIf we look at the ratio between the indexes and the data, we get:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
64966.91\/92898.87 \u00d7 100 = ~70 %<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A ratio exceeding 50\u201360 % often requires an analysis of unused indexes, index overlap and compression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
YES, we are good with this database! \ud83d\ude09<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nNow, let see if we have unused Indexes I use a script that I created years ago for DWH audit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\/******************************************************************************************\/\n--Summary\n\/******************************************************************************************\/\nUSE [master];\n\nDECLARE @sqlcmd NVARCHAR(max);\nDECLARE @ExcludeFlag BIT = 0;\nDECLARE @IncludeDB VARCHAR(1000);\nDECLARE @ExcludeDB VARCHAR(1000);\n\n\nSET @IncludeDB = 'DynamicsBC'\n\nSELECT @ExcludeFlag = 0;\n--SELECT @ExcludeDB = 'distribution,master,model,msdb,tempdb';\n \n\nDECLARE @InDBList TABLE (indb SYSNAME);\nDECLARE @ExDBList TABLE (exdb SYSNAME);\nDECLARE @dbList TABLE (dbID INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, dbName SYSNAME NOT NULL);\n\n\nIF (@ExcludeFlag = 0)\nBEGIN\n\tINSERT INTO @InDBList SELECT * FROM string_split(@IncludeDB,',');\n\tINSERT INTO @dbList (dbID, dbName) \n\t\tSELECT d.database_id, d.name \n\t\tFROM sys.databases d \n\t\tWHERE d.name IN (SELECT indb FROM @InDBList);\nEND\nELSE\nBEGIN\n--\tINSERT INTO @ExDBList SELECT * FROM string_split(@ExcludeDB,',');\n\tINSERT INTO @dbList (dbID, dbName) \n\t\tSELECT d.database_id, d.name \n\t\tFROM sys.databases d \n--\t\tWHERE d.name NOT IN (SELECT exdb FROM @ExDBList);\n--\t\tWHERE d.name NOT IN ('distribution','master','model','msdb','tempdb');\n\nEND\n\n\/*********************************************************************\nCreation of the result table variable to store the information\n--*********************************************************************\/\n\nIF (SELECT OBJECT_ID('tempdb.dbo.#dbUnUsedIndex')) IS NOT NULL \n\tDROP TABLE dbo.#dbUnUsedIndex\nCREATE TABLE #dbUnUsedIndex (\n\tdbID INT NOT NULL,\n\tdbName SYSNAME NOT NULL,\n\tobjName SYSNAME NULL,\n\tidxName SYSNAME NULL,\n\tidxID INT NULL,\n\tUserSeek BIGINT NULL,\n\tUserScans BIGINT NULL,\n\tUserLookups BIGINT NULL,\n\tUserUpdates BIGINT NULL,\n\tnbRows BIGINT NULL,\n\tdropStatement NVARCHAR(1000) NULL)\n\nDECLARE @dbID INT;\nDECLARE @dbName SYSNAME;\nDECLARE cur_dblst CURSOR \n LOCAL STATIC READ_ONLY FORWARD_ONLY\nFOR \nSELECT dbID, dbName\nFROM @dbList;\n\nOPEN cur_dblst\nFETCH NEXT FROM cur_dblst INTO @dbID, @dbName\nWHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0\nBEGIN \n --Do something with Id here\n\n\tSELECT @sqlcmd = N'\n\t\tUSE [' + @dbName + ']'\n\t\t+ ' SELECT\n\t\t\t@dbID\n\t\t\t, @dbName\t\t\t\n\t\t\t, o.name AS objName\n\t\t\t, i.name AS idxName\n\t\t\t, i.index_id AS idxID\n\t\t\t, dm_ius.user_seeks AS UserSeek\n\t\t\t, dm_ius.user_scans AS UserScans\n\t\t\t, dm_ius.user_lookups AS UserLookups\n\t\t\t, dm_ius.user_updates AS UserUpdates\n\t\t\t, p.TableRows AS nbRows\n\t\t\t, ''DROP INDEX '' + QUOTENAME(i.name)\n\t\t\t+ '' ON '' + QUOTENAME(s.name) + ''.''\n\t\t\t+ QUOTENAME(OBJECT_NAME(dm_ius.OBJECT_ID)) AS ''dropStatement''\n\t\tFROM sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats dm_ius\n\t\t\tINNER JOIN sys.indexes i ON i.index_id = dm_ius.index_id AND dm_ius.OBJECT_ID = i.OBJECT_ID\n\t\t\tINNER JOIN sys.objects o ON dm_ius.OBJECT_ID = o.OBJECT_ID\n\t\t\tINNER JOIN sys.schemas s ON o.schema_id = s.schema_id\n\t\t\tINNER JOIN (SELECT SUM(p.rows) TableRows, p.index_id, p.OBJECT_ID\n\t\t\tFROM sys.partitions p GROUP BY p.index_id, p.OBJECT_ID) p\n\t\t\tON p.index_id = dm_ius.index_id AND dm_ius.OBJECT_ID = p.OBJECT_ID\n\t\tWHERE OBJECTPROPERTY(dm_ius.OBJECT_ID,''IsUserTable'') = 1\n\t\t\tAND dm_ius.database_id = DB_ID()\n\t\t\tAND i.type_desc = ''nonclustered''\n\t\t\tAND i.is_primary_key = 0\n\t\t\tAND i.is_unique_constraint = 0\n\t\tORDER BY (dm_ius.user_seeks + dm_ius.user_scans + dm_ius.user_lookups) ASC; '\n\n\tINSERT INTO #dbUnUsedIndex (\n\t\t\t\t\tdbID,\n\t\t\t\t\tdbName,\n\t\t\t\t\tobjName,\n\t\t\t\t\tidxName,\n\t\t\t\t\tidxID,\n\t\t\t\t\tUserSeek,\n\t\t\t\t\tUserScans,\n\t\t\t\t\tUserLookups,\n\t\t\t\t\tUserUpdates,\n\t\t\t\t\tnbRows,\n\t\t\t\t\tdropStatement)\n\tEXEC sp_executesql @sqlCmd, N'@dbID INT, @dbName SYSNAME', @dbID, @dbName\n\n FETCH NEXT FROM cur_dblst INTO @dbID, @dbName\nEND\nCLOSE cur_dblst\nDEALLOCATE cur_dblst\n\nSELECT Count(*) FROM #dbUnUsedIndex\n\nSELECT * FROM #dbUnUsedIndex\nORDER BY dbName, objName\n\n\n IndexInfo;\nGO\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nFor the total number of Indexes, we use this simple query:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SELECT COUNT(*) AS TotalIndexes\nFROM dynamicsBC.sys.indexes i\nINNER JOIN sys.tables t\nON i.object_id = t.object_id\nWHERE i.index_id > 0;<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nWe have 998 unused Index for a total of 19494 Index. This is 5% of the Indexes.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The IMPACT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n The first impact is on DML INSERT and UPDATE operations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nINSERT<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With every insertion, the data is written to the table and several index structures must also be updated, even when one of these indexes is never used by a query.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we have the following sequence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
INSERT –> write to the table –> update index 1 –> update index 2 –> update index 3 –> update index 4 ….<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is even more costly for this command because, for each operation, the sequence is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UPDATE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UPDATE –> Delete the old index entry + Create the new entry for each index<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result of all of this is more I\/O, more CPU usage and also more entries in the Transaction Log<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On heavily used transactional tables, a few unused indexes can account for several per cent of additional load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second impact is the storage and the backup<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIf the unused index represents ~100B of the database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If 100 GB of indexes are never used, that\u2019s 100 GB backed up unnecessarily, 100 GB restored unnecessarily and, above all, 100 GB stored unnecessarily and just for one environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have Dev, Test, PreProd & Prod and all in HA… I let you do the calculation but it\u2019s near 1 TB!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The third impact is on the maintenance plan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe following operations must also handle unused indexes:
Each additional index extends the maintenance windows…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ADVISE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n You really need to be careful before deleting anything, as an unused index is not necessarily useless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You should check several factors before you delete unused indexes:
I generally recommend observing the index between 1 and 3 months before deleting it and without restart. A restart will reset the DMV used for the stats… And always keep the script for recreating the index to hand!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Green SQL Server DBA Score<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Just for fun, we\u2019re going to set up a \u2018SQL Server DBA Score\u2019 to use for my tips on the subject:<\/p>\n\n\n\nUnused index rates (unused index\/total index)<\/td> Score<\/td><\/tr> < 5%<\/td> 10\/10<\/td><\/tr> 5 to 10%<\/td> 8\/10<\/td><\/tr> 10 to 20 %<\/td> 5\/10<\/td><\/tr> > 20 %<\/td> 2\/10<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n An unused index is a bit like car that never gets driven:
The Green SQL Server DBA doesn\u2019t just seek to add indexes.
See you soon for the next one!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This summer I start a series of blog posts on the \u2018green SQL Server DBA\u2019, as it\u2019s a topic that continues to interest me and one that hasn\u2019t been covered very much so far. I hope you\u2019ll enjoy my tips, starting with this one on unused indexes. When discussing SQL Server performance, we often hear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[229,198,2451,99,48],"tags":[49,51],"type_dbi":[2874],"class_list":["post-45650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-database-administration-monitoring","category-database-management","category-ms-teams","category-sql-server","category-technology-survey","tag-microsoft","tag-sql-server","type-sql-server"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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I hope you\u2019ll enjoy my tips, starting with this one on unused indexes. 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