All about Indexes - Part 2
Proposed session for SQLBits 2026TL; DR
Indexes are essential to good database performance, but it can be hard to decide what indexes to create. In this session we'll look at guidelines for index creation
Session Details
Indexes are essential to good database performance, but it can be hard to decide what indexes to create and the ‘rules’ around indexes often appear to be vague or downright contradictory.
In this session we’ll dive deep into indexes, have a look at their architecture and internal structure and how that affects the way that indexes are used in query execution. We’ll look at why clustered indexes are recommended on almost all tables and how their architecture affects the choice of columns. We’ll look at nonclustered indexes; their architecture and how query design affects what indexes should be created to support various queries.
In this session we’ll dive deep into indexes, have a look at their architecture and internal structure and how that affects the way that indexes are used in query execution. We’ll look at why clustered indexes are recommended on almost all tables and how their architecture affects the choice of columns. We’ll look at nonclustered indexes; their architecture and how query design affects what indexes should be created to support various queries.
3 things you'll get out of this session
Understanding of index architecture
Learn how and when the optimiser will use indexes
Learn how to design indexes to support the queries that run against the DB
Speakers
Gail Shaw's other proposed sessions for 2026
All about Indexes - Part 1 - 2026
Identifying the worst performing queries in a DB, with Query Store - 2026
KQL for the SQL Professional - 2026
On Transactions and Atomic Operations - 2026
Parameter Sniffing vs Parameter Sensitive Plan Optimization - 2026
Transaction Log Internals, unplugged - 2026
Gail Shaw's previous sessions
Regressions, neurons and decisions. Oh My!
Linear regression, neural networks and neural networks are three of the foundational algorithms in machine learning. In this session, we'll look at how they work and how they generate the results that they do.
All about Indexes
Indexes are essential to good database performance, but it can be hard to decide what indexes to create. In this session we'll look at the design considerations for clustered indexes and for nonclustered indexes.
All about Indexes
Indexes are essential to good database performance, but it can be hard to decide what indexes to create. In this session we'll look at guidelines for index creation
Do's and don'ts of database corruption
In this session we'll look at the things you should and shouldn't be doing now, to protect yourself and your data against the risk of corruption and thing you should and shouldn't do should the database ever become corrupt.
Bad Plan! Sit!
In this session we'll look at the common causes of bad execution plans and examine options for resolving the problem, short term and long term.