Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Unleashed

fill factor

Type: Basic

Default value: 0

The fill factor option allows you to define the percentage of free space on a data page or an index page when you create an index or a table. The value can range from 1 to 100. Setting the value to 80 would mean each page would be 80% full at the time of the create index. SQL Server also allows you to specify the value of fill factor at the server level by providing a fill factor parameter.

The following is an example of this option:

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exec sp_configure 'fill factor', 80goRECONFIGUREGo

The following is a general recommendation of what to specify based on the different application types you are running:

OLTP—This is a good candidate for leaving space free in pages due to the ...