SQLBits 2013

Quantifying the cost of Compression

In this session, we will use Grade of the Steel type workloads to quantify the CPU cost of enabling different types of compression. Using CPU profiling, we will try to quantify the cost of this feature.
A DBA running SQL Server 2008 or above will often need to understand if it is worth trading CPU cycles for I/O by enabling row or page compression. The benefits can be significant, but does the cost in core licensing offset the storage capacity saved? Often, comparing the workload before and after compression isn't an option. how then can you make an educated guess about the cost of compressing tables and indexes?
 
In this session, we will use Grade of the Steel type workloads to quantify the CPU cost of enabling different types of compression. Using CPU profiling, we will try to quantify the cost of this feature.