Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Unleashed

Index Selection

To determine which indexes to define on a table, you need to perform a detailed query analysis. This process involves examining the search clauses to see what columns are referenced, knowing the bias of the data to determine the usefulness of the index, and ranking the queries in order of importance and frequency of execution. You have to be careful not to examine individual queries and develop indexes to support one query without considering the other queries that are executed on the table as well. You need to come up with a set of indexes that work for the best cross-section of your queries.

Tip

A useful tool to help you identify your frequently executed and critical queries is SQL Server Profiler. I’ve found SQL Server Profiler ...